County Manager Eddie Madden said the county never prevented City of Whiteville assets from being deployed to the Hurricane Helene response.
City officials expressed frustration last week after a team of heavy equipment and chainsaws were left waiting for an authorization number from the state. N.C. Emergency Management requires that counties submit lists of assets and requests to assist in response to natural disasters, even though municipal governments are not controlled by county officials. City administrators said they followed all protocols.
“I understand the frustration by the City of Whiteville officials, but Columbus County has not contributed to any delays for them,” Madden said in an email. “The county, in contrast, has followed the process as required by NCEM, we submitted our application within hours of the hurricane, and we received our orders within 48 hours. The Columbus County Emergency Services Department also submitted the city’s application in a timely manner per NCEM guidelines.”
City Manager Darren Currie and Emergency services Director Hal Lowder said the city follow the rules, and submitted their application on Sept. 27, the day the storm began affecting western North Carolina.
“The process for us to deploy is that we must submit any requests or offers for assistance to our County Emergency Manager, and it is processed to the State EM,” Lowder said. “We did that last Friday and have not received a mission number nor any communication regarding our offers.”
Lowder said that as soon as Helene’s path toward North Carolina was clear, he conferred with the city fire and police departments, which were already making preparations to head west. Lowder also notified Public Works Director Travis Faulk to have chain saws and crews ready to go. Faulk was instructed to make ready a dump truck, skid steer loader or excavator, and four personnel to help clear roadways for emergency and relief traffic.
Madden said N.C. Emergency Management (NCEM) received numerous applications from counties, states, and contractors from across the country willing to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Each of the applications are processed through NCEM. Once they determine where volunteers are to be placed, orders are issued to each organization.
“NCEM and the impacted counties of Hurricane Helene desperately need help but we have to trust the professionals that are organizing the coordinated storm event,” Madden said. “They have a monumental task ahead of them in organizing search and rescue, shelters, water distribution, coordinating donations, restoring infrastructure, and placement of thousands of volunteers.”
Columbus sent administration workers as well as emergency personnel to the west on Sept. 29. Madden said he helped coordinate efforts to replace water pipes for the city of Black Mountain, as well as other tasks. Columbus County employees helped set up and run shelters, as well as assisting in search and rescue.
“I want to thank our Columbus County team that responded quickly to serve in Buncombe and Polk Counties and for the County Commissioners who wholeheartedly supported us this week,” he said. “We have done significant work, put in countless hours, and have made a major impact while being there. In my professional career, I have never been so proud like I have been this week. I am blessed to work with some of the most generous and talented people on the planet and I am grateful to have served the people of Buncombe County this week.”
Madden said there was never a lack of service or personnel in Columbus while teams went out west. “We had a plan, a rotation schedule for personnel, and the proper assets in place at all times to do our jobs as administrators and first responders in Columbus County, Buncombe County and Polk County.”
The path to recovery is going to be extensive for the 28 counties hit by Helene, Madden said.
“Let’s continue to pray for our mountain communities and support them every way we can realizing that the recovery is going to be very long and will take all of us giving of our time, talent, and donations to them.”
