Hurricane Helene: Asheville’s water system may not be fully repaired for weeks

ASHEVILLE, NC — Hurricane Helene impacted Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. One of the hardest hit areas is Asheville, North Carolina.

Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan went to Asheville on Monday and said he’s never seen damage like this before.

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“When I talk about and I think about Harvey, I went to Houston to cover Hurricane Harvey. [There was a] tremendous amounts of rain in a short amount of time, but this has been something else and what I’ve really been caught by is understandably how shocked and how stunned people are here because life has changed so very quickly in just the span of a couple of hours,” Monahan said.

In the River Arts District of Asheville, the French Broad River rose to over 16 feet at one point over the weekend. It is almost back within its banks as of Monday.

A convoy of power trucks was working to restore power in the district on Monday afternoon.

Monahan said the city’s water system has basically been destroyed and it may be weeks before it’s fully repaired.

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A Channel 2 Action News photojournalist flew NewsDrone 2 over the area to show the magnitude of the damage.

In Biltmore Village, mud cakes everything, cars were moved downriver, and buildings were knocked off their foundations.

Bottled water is one of the most needed items in the area, along with hygiene products.

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