Almost one year after Helene, Buncombe County held its 86th and final Community Briefing this week.
In the aftermath of the storm, the briefings – aired on Blue Ridge Public Radio, online and elsewhere – were a crucial resource for people who needed updates on food, water, electricity and other essential services at a time when cell service and internet were strained throughout the region.
The briefings also gave the press an opportunity to ask officials directly about everything from FEMA reimbursements to social services in the aftermath of the storm. Initially, the briefings were held twice-daily, before eventually dropping to once-a-day and then once a week.
After Helene made landfall in late September last year, Buncombe County remained in an official state of emergency through June 30, 2025.
At Wednesday’s meeting, officials from all over Buncombe gathered to share the latest Helene updates – and to offer messages of gratitude and hope for ongoing recovery efforts.
Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell emphasized that the work was far from over and that officials would continue to share recovery updates online.
One massive slice of recovery work will be Asheville’s use of $225 million in federal recovery funds from HUD, Campbell said.
“This historic investment will allow us to rebuild and strengthen our community in meaningful ways, including $125 million for resilient infrastructure, $52 million to support economic recovery and $31 million dedicated to housing,” she said.
Another important component of recovery is shoring up a water system that’s still in delicate shape after flooding from Helene sank the city and around 100,000 residents into a 53-day water crisis.
At the briefing, Clay Chandler, the spokesperson for the City of Asheville’s Water Resources Department, shared one piece of good news about the city’s water system: the turbidity, or cloudiness caused by sediment, at the North Fork Reservoir is back to pre-storm levels.
“As of this morning, the reservoir's raw water turbidity was 0.38, which is what it was pre-Helene, and what it's been for the past several months now,” he said. “We're very thankful for that.”
Still, the water system, like many aspects of the region, needs a lot of work, Chandler said.
“We are very, very vulnerable,” he said. “It would not take an event the intensity of Helene to put our treatment and filtration systems at risk.”
Asheville is in the design phase of several infrastructure projects that will help with the water system’s resiliency. That includes an additional permanent treatment system for the North Fork and DeBruhl water treatment facilities, infrastructure that Chandler says is necessary to keep down turbidity levels and ensure water quality in case of another extreme weather event.
Earlier this year, the city voted to authorize a one-year temporary treatment system for $55.7 million – the same one that the U.S. Army Corps implemented – while it figures out a more permanent system, which could take up to five years and cost more than $100 million. The temporary system is expected to be reimbursed through FEMA’s Public Assistance Program.
The city is also hoping to create an alternate bypass out of the North Fork Reservoir that’s not in a floodplain. The existing bypass, which was repaired over the span of two weeks after Helene, sits near the Swannanoa River, an area where infrastructure is at higher risk for future flood events. The plan for an alternative bypass is currently in the design phase.
“The diameter of that new bypass has not been determined, nor has the exact route been laid out, but the design phase will work all of those details out,” Chandler said.
During the briefing, officials also announced several Helene remembrance events. Black Mountain is inviting people to help the town plant 200 trees. In Arden, people can offer a blessing and toss flowers into the French Broad River. And the Bee Tree station will have a candlelight vigil to honor those who lost their lives in the storm. See the full lineup.
