Chair recalls Hurricane Helen’s toll as Buncombe marks second anniversary

Chairperson Christa used the board’s September meeting to mark the second anniversary of Hurricane Helen and to thank first responders and community volunteers for their roles in recovery. She reviewed the storm’s local impact—river crests, mudslides, extended utility outages, major housing loss and both human and agricultural losses—and urged continued preparedness.

"We lost 125 plus,000 housing units. We lost over 800,000 acres of timberland," Christa said, recounting the scale of damage to the region. She noted official death counts and said 42 of the deaths were in Buncombe County. Christa reminded members to make preparedness plans, build kits and stay informed, and she encouraged vaccination ahead of the fall season.

She offered county resources for those seeking recovery metrics and said county staff and partner organizations are continuing long-term recovery work. The board thanked county employees, neighborhood organizations and faith groups for their response during the event.