MARSHALL – Gov. Roy Cooper visited Madison County and Yancey County and emphasized that the unprecedented devastation of Tropical Storm Helene would require some ingenuity to maximize funding sources.
While volunteers and business owners, many of them suited in Tyvek hazmat suits and respirators, were washing down the streets throughout a dust-stained downtown Marshall Oct. 10, Cooper paid his first visit to the county since Helene devastated the downtown area, walking down Main Street to meet with local residents and business owners amid the cleanup efforts in the seat of Madison County, which sustained some of the worst damage of any downtown area in Western North Carolina.
Cooper appeared at Marshall Town Hall where he met with local residents and business owners, including Main Street Comics’ Kyle Clark, Old Marshall Jail’s Josh Copus, and others, as well as local officials, including Madison County Board of Commissioners Chair Matt Wechtel, Marshall Mayor Aaron Haynie, Marshall Town Administrator Forrest Gilliam, and members of the Marshall Town Board.
In the days after Helene’s destruction, rumors about the mud and sludge in Marshall and Hot Springs burning through footwear and clothing fueled misinformation and anxieties.
On Oct. 5, environmental advocacy organization MountainTrue announced in a social media post that French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson has been actively investigating the situation.
More: How to find help: Madison County emergency resource guide in the wake of Helene flooding
“Hartwell spoke with several individuals directly involved in the cleanup efforts,” Mountain True said in the Oct. 5 Instagram post. “They did not report any incidents of skin irritation or respiratory issues, as some rumors suggested. Nevertheless, we remain cautious.”
Cooper told The News-Record that the misinformation about the mud and sludge in the cleanup efforts in Marshall will only lead to much bigger issues for residents throughout WNC.
“Misinformation not only can lead to scams against people, it can discourage people from filing for federal relief that they are entitled to,” Cooper said. “Misinformation also demoralizes all of the soldiers, emergency workers, first responders, community leaders who are doing so much to bring these communities back. We all need to pull together on this and to move forward, because with all of the sadness that I have seen, I’ve also seen determination like I’ve never seen.”
According to Mountain True’s Josh Kelly, Carson collected a soil sample in Marshall and delivered it to a testing lab Oct. 7.
The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel will bring an update on the soil test when the results are available.
In the post, Mountain True also cautioned volunteers and business owners assisting in the cleanup efforts to remain proactive and protect against bacteria and infection, and said there were like “astronomic” levels of bacteria in the sludge.
“Given the likely astronomic levels of bacteria in the sludge, we strongly advise avoiding contact with it,” Mountain True said in the post. “If you must work in these areas, please use Personal Protective Equipment (N95 mask or better, gloves, safety glasses, and rubber boots) and wash thoroughly afterward.”
More: Even after neighbor’s death, Marshall’s Rollins community still inspired by support
Cooper, who on Oct. 8 also visited Burnsville Fire Department where local health care workers established a field hospital at the emergency medical services, said the state and federal response to the devastation throughout the WNC region would need to be “an extraordinarily creative government response,” adding that “all spigots are open” for resources to the region.
“We’re working to try to turn on every spigot of federal and state money that can help Western North Carolina rebuild in a stronger, more resilient way,” Cooper said. “We’re just hearing so many encouraging stories about communities that have pulled together and are working to not only respond to this but to recover as fast as they can.
“We know some of these investments will be long term, but it’s important now to be laying the foundation for that.”
Cooper met with first responders Oct. 8 at the Burnsville Fire Department, as well as local and out-of-state health care workers at the all-volunteer field hospital, and recounted a story of two WNC first responders who delivered boxes of chemotherapy drugs to a residence in a very isolated remote region.
“This is happening all over Western North Carolina — trying to bring oxygen, glucose and other drugs. The number of rural nurses, physicians and PAs that have pulled together, it’s fantastic,” Cooper said.
The governor told The News-Record & Sentinel that he has many fond memories of WNC.
“I’ve come here and visited in so many places that I love,” Cooper said. “Most every North Carolinian can tell you stories about traveling to Western North Carolina and caring about it. That’s why it’s such a heavy emotional toll for the entire state.”
Cooper said the Helene effort has been “the most massive coordinated response that he’s ever been a part of,” and the worst disaster the state has ever encountered.
More: Hot Springs relief efforts ‘should be studied’ as entire town teams up amid Helene’s chaos
The governor said business owners are expressing a desire to reopen and to rebuild.
“People are saying, ‘We want to go.’ When I spoke with (Clark), he said, ‘If I could find a piece of wood, I’m going to knock on it, and we’re going to come back.'”
But Cooper conceded that since “there are not a lot of good programs for small businesses,” the state and federal response to Helene would need to utilize some creativity.
The governor pointed to the Small Business Administration, a loan program which requires small businesses to repay at a low interest rate, but said WNC business owners with smaller capital would need to rethink whether they’d want to enter into a long-term loan.
Instead, Cooper said he’d like to see a grant program for small businesses in WNC.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Western North Carolina economy,” Cooper said. “We need to look at a small business grant program, and I’ve discussed this with legislators, for Western North Carolina to help bring it back.”
The governor also advocated for increasing unemployment benefits for small business employees.
“Ours is one of the lowest in the country,” he told The News-Record & Sentinel. “We need to bring it up so that they will stay here and that we have an opportunity to get this community back.”
Recognition for Maj. Michelle Quintero
Cooper also recognized first responders, including Madison County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Michelle Quintero, who died Sept. 27 while trying to reach her car to head to work at the Madison County Detention Center, where she worked as head of operations.
Quintero couldn’t get out the front door of her Upper Crowns Creek Road home in Yancey County, so she went out the back. Quickly, she became surrounded by rising flood waters.
Quintero’s daughter, Ashlynn Quintero, said that while her mother was fighting the current, her legs became pinned and she got tangled in fencing. Then, an even bigger wave of water and either a log or tree came crashing down on her.
“The major was going out to work and protect the public at the height of this storm. I’m extremely grateful for her life, and I send my deepest condolences to all of the family and friends that she had,” Cooper said. “I had a discussion with Sheriff Harwood about how wonderful she had been to this community.”
According to Cooper as of Oct. 10, there were 91 confirmed deaths throughout WNC resulting from Tropical Storm Helene.
Madison County Manager Rod Honeycutt said the Madison County death toll stands at five as of Oct. 10.
According to Honeycutt, one Madison County resident remains unaccounted for.
Like Cooper, Honeycutt said he was very encouraged by the way the community has jumped in to work together and help each other in any way they can.
“You have active Army National Guard on the ground,” said Honeycutt, a former Army Colonel, “and an army of volunteers making this happen,” as heavy machinery whirred as volunteers clad in white Tyvek suits sprayed and squeegeed the streets ahead of the next rainfall, and the beeping of trackhoes could be heard up and down Main Street.
In Madison County the week of Oct. 7, more than 230 Army troops were on the ground including 100 from the 101st Airborne and 100 from the 82nd Airborne Divisions, as well as 32 Army National Guard.
According to Cooper, restoring water and fixing wastewater treatment plants remains a key priority.
Also, the governor said as of Oct. 10, more than $69 million in FEMA funding was issued to WNC residents.
While he knows the plans to rebuild WNC will require a long-term plan and a multibillion dollar efforts, being unified in that effort is going to be key, Cooper said.
“It’s so important for us to pull together to make sure we are unified in our request to federal agencies, because the state can’t do it by themselves, and certainly the folks in these communities don’t have the tax base to do it themselves,” Cooper said. “We have to make sure that those investments come to Western North Carolina and we’re going to do everything that we can to build Western North Carolina back better than ever.”
But the governor expressed hope that WNC residents can come together, as he’s seen that cohesion and compassion of neighbors throughout the Helene relief efforts.
“I am inspired by the Western North Carolinians who have pulled together with dedication and courage, and they are determined to make sure that everybody’s taken care of,” Cooper said. “What we’re here to do is assist in that effort.”
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Gov. Cooper in Marshall after Helene: Misinformation demoralizing
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