The town of Black Mountain has water service again, in part due to help from Columbus County.
Several teams of Columbus County personnel are providing support to the Emergency Operations Centers in Buncombe County and in Black Mountain.
County Manager Eddie Madden said in an email this morning that Kevin Leonard, Director of the Association of County Commissioners, sent out a request to nearby jurisdictions to see if they had pipe to help repair the town’s municipal water system. More than 500 feet of pipe, along with connectors and other fittings to fulfill Black Mountain’s request “and got their water system back into service later that day.”
Madden said he spent much of the past week as the local government liaison for Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder.
“She and I have visited each of the municipalities and toured much of the damaged areas in their towns,” he said. “By making these connections and opening up the lines of communication, we have been able to get resources such as port-a-johns, shower trailers, additional law enforcement, equipment, supplies, and SpaceX Starlink technology to them very quickly.”
Madden’s initial team expects to cycle out this weekend. County assets are still being deployed to assist in storm damaged areas.
A Level 1 Incident Management Team from the New York Fire Department arrived on Thursday. They, along with FEMA, and members from the New Hanover County Emergency Services Department will take over Incident Command in Buncombe County.
“It has been quite an experience to work alongside some of the best and most highly trained people in the country,” Madden said.
On Thursday, Emergency Management Director David Ransom arrived in Black Mountain with a large supply of donations. Fire Marshall Shannon Blackmon delivered the county’s mobile shower unit to the Fire Training Center in Buncombe County so that staff and volunteers can take a hot shower. The county is also providing “tactical support” for Polk County.
“We have others who will be arriving next week,” Madden said.
Madden was scheduled to meet with the director of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and her staff to provide information to help mobilize temporary solutions and get service to some of the hardest hit parts of the county and region.
Meanwhile, madden said, county workers are still helping with the basic necessities.
“We will continue to place our team members in shelters and water stations,” he said. “They will also be delivering meals and supplies before we return on Sunday.
“I want to thank our awesome staff for their quick response to the people of Buncombe and Polk counties,” Madden said. “We arrived here on the heels of the hurricane when we were needed the most. Our teams have helped in numerous ways and have been on the ground bringing some semblance of normalcy to communities in great despair.”
