The WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher, which has been serving as an emergency shelter in the wake of Hurricane Helene, had 224 residents as of the official count at 4 p.m. Friday. The shelter was also housing 24 dogs, 17 cats and one rabbit. It is still welcoming anyone in need of shelter.
Craven County Human Resources Director Amber Parker, who was serving as the shelter spokesperson, said shelter capacity is 300, and that can be expanded to 325. Workers — about 100 of them from various organizations and government agencies, including 40 people from the Red Cross, many of them volunteers — are currently helping residents get stabilized. The facility has hot showers, meals, snacks, WiFi, medical care, a pharmacy team, children’s activities, garbage service and more. “It’s like our own little city,” Parker said. Once water and power are restored in the region, workers will help people return to their homes or find more stable housing.
Several shelter residents said they sought safety as the storm approached and were housed at the Civic Center for hours before being transferred to the Ag Center. Parker said the shelter was supposed to be located at a Baptist church in Swannanoa, but it was facing imminent flooding, so operations staff scrambled to set up the Ag Center as an alternate site.
Residents expressed gratitude for the shelter’s coffee, snacks, hot meals, cots and blankets, despite small annoyances such as people on cell phones past the 10 p.m. curfew and an alarm going off at 4 a.m.
“I haven’t seen any sleepwalkers,” said William Davis, 75, a retired medical technologist who had been living with a friend in a basement apartment on Hiawassee Street in Asheville. He left the home as the storm approached because he knew it was prone to flooding. He hasn’t been able to reach his friend since then.
“Anytime you get this many people together, it’s kind of a challenge, even without the anxiety of this tragedy,” he said. He hopes to find work with cleanup efforts in the coming days, then may go stay with friends in Wilmington.
Kenny Putnam, 77, said he was evacuated Thursday night from a veterans’ home in Asheville that was beginning to flood. “They said, ‘You’ve got ten minutes.'” He left with barely any personal belongings and wasn’t sure when or if he would be able to retrieve them.
Matthew Crissman, 28, said, “I was homeless living under the bridge by Westgate.” By 4 a.m. Friday, he was soaked from head to toe. He headed to the AHope Day Center, where he has a locker to keep belongings. From there, paramedics took him to the Civic Center, and he was later transported to the Ag Center.
“It’s dry and safe. There are police everywhere, so you know none of your stuff is going to get stolen. Out on the streets, people are like, ‘This is nice!’ [and steal],” he said.
For him, staying at the shelter was like a forced detox from drugs — mostly meth and fentanyl— he said. He experienced “horrible leg cramps” but had gotten completely sober. He said that users avoid getting sober because they don’t want to go through withdrawal, which can be painful. “But once you’re already through it — now my life is going to be easier,” he said cheerfully. He hoped that in the coming days he could find some work doing storm cleanup, and then, permanent housing.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Helene sends hundreds seeking safety and shelter to WNC Ag Center
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