Army Corps reports major progress on Helene debris removal; adds thousands of private‑property sites in Buncombe County

Bobby Petty of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the briefing the corps is operating in 10 counties with three major missions — waterway debris removal, private property debris removal (PPDR) and wastewater support — and reported substantial progress across the region.

Petty said statewide crews have removed roughly 7,000,000 cubic yards of debris — the corps’ analogy: “a million cubic yards is equal to about 1,000 miles of 10‑yard dump trucks” — and that waterway removal accounts for about 5,000,000 cubic yards. He said the corps has cleared about 4,100 PPDR and waterway sites and is about 76% complete on site counts.

Specifically for Buncombe County, Petty said the corps has added about 4,000 additional PPDR sites and that Asheville’s projected remaining waterways and PPDR debris totals are under 200,000 cubic yards for waterways and roughly 600,000 (from an earlier figure) for PPDR subject to change as more sites are added. In Buncombe County overall, he said crews had cleared about 22,200,000 cubic yards to date and expected to remove a little over a half‑million more in coming weeks.

Petty described logistics constraints and explained that crews prioritized right‑of‑way clearance so equipment could reach private sites. He said right‑of‑way missions are effectively complete and that crews will continue QC (quality control) checks and finish remaining site work.

When asked about reports of isolated neighborhoods where debris appears not to have been collected, Petty encouraged residents to email him the location and said some pockets may await contractor scheduling or follow‑on work; he noted other trucks in the area may belong to state or local crews rather than the Army Corps.

The corps provided a web resource and a QR code pointing to eligibility information for PPDR and urged residents to verify what types of debris qualify for removal. The corps will remain available for follow‑up questions at the end of the briefing, Petty said.