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BOONE — Little by little, one shovel and armful of debris at a time, stunned residents and business owners continued Monday the arduous, heartbreaking task of digging out from the devastation left by Tropical Storm Helene.
Some, such as James Simmons, the owner of the Penn Station East Coast Sandwich Shop on U.S. 321, knew what had happened and what it was going to take to rebuild.
“I was in the store the whole time,” he said of the worst of the flooding. “If I had any idea, I wouldn’t have stayed. I would have jumped ship.”
Others knew what likely had happened but didn’t realize the extent of the damage until they saw it for the first time Monday morning.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand how widespread this is,” said Dan Stewart, the owner of the Dolbier Floor Care and Restoration company.
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Helene dumped more than a foot of rain in some parts of the North Carolina mountains in a few hours Friday. Rainfall estimates in some areas topped more than 2 feet since last week.
Flash flooding and swollen creeks and rivers killed at least 60 in NC, some who drowned and others crushed by falling trees. The overall death toll across the U.S. Southeast has reached at least 121 people across six states.
More than 200,000 lost power and water service in the state. Tens of thousands were cut off from loved ones by floodwaters, downed trees and roadways completely washed away.
In and around Boone, surrounding communities in Ashe, Avery and Alleghany counties were still trying to get out.
Heavy-duty trucks hauling skid-steers, tractors and backhoes moved up U.S. 421 and 321 alongside electric company crews from all over the United States.
Churches and students from Appalachian State University — those who remained behind — stepped in to help whenever possible.
“We had kids from App who belong to our church walk over this morning to see what they could do,” said Pastor John Mark Brown of the Brushy Mountain Baptist Church just outside town limits. “God does things for us even through the hardest times.”
While Brown spoke — he was assembling a brand new generator pump to try and move standing water — two men, random strangers from Concord, pulled in.
“Could you use a skid steer?” Chuck Griffin asked the pastor. “We got one down the road. We’ll bring it up to you.”
A few minutes later, Griffin explained that he and a few coworkers loaded the heavy earth mover up and drove to Boone knowing that people could use help.
That was evident all over town Monday. Traffic lights, electric service and water appeared to have been restored to a lot of the town by mid-morning.
A water distribution center had been set up at Watauga County High School and Samaritan’s Ministries set up a large tent filled with oxygen machines so people who require assistance breathing would have somewhere to go if they lost power.
“The support from the community has been amazing,” Stewart said. “I’m thankful for the safety of our people.
“But the news, for the next week or two, will not be as nice. We’re going to see the ugly side of it.”
Simmons, while stranded in his store, saw some of the ugliness firsthand — first from what Mother Nature had wrought and then from mankind.
Stormwater, he said, rapidly filled a creek branched off from the Watauga River nearby.
It quickly flooded the parking lot, pooled in low spots and created eddies and a swift current capable of moving large objects.
Indeed, the water swept an industrial dumpster behind his restaurant into the creek and smashed it against the concrete supports supporting a bridge on US 321.
A few minutes later, a shipping container the size of a railroad car floated into his parking lot from a Wal-Mart at least 100 yards away.
“See the scrapes there?” he said, pointing to gouges in the metal a foot from its top. “It crashed into my building. I’m lucky it only hit the corner.”
At one point during the night Friday, Simmons said he watched something more sinister: Several people smashed the lock off the container to rifle through its contents like scavenging hyenas.
And despite — or perhaps because of — witnessing firsthand the craven opportunism of common thieves, he nonetheless considered himself fortunate.
“We’re blessed,” he said. “A lot of people lost homes or loved ones. This can be fixed. People can’t (be replaced).”
Stewart echoed that sentiment. One of his sons, he said, was trapped in his Avery County home for the better part of the day Saturday, caught behind a road filled with broken trees and downed power lines.
It took several hours and a small army of men with chainsaws to cut a way through.
“It’s closer when it’s personal family, “ he said.
Further down in a small strip of shops and offices tucked into one of Boone’s main commercial arteries, State Farm agent Adam Jackson set up a pair of laptops and phone chargers under a red popup tent.
Jackson, despite having to move sodden carpet and furniture from his own office, knew he had to find a way to answer calls from distressed homeowners that he knew would occupy the coming days and weeks ahead.
“I want to be helping other people as fast as I can,” he said. “I have to fix myself a little before I can really do that.
“You have to put your own oxygen mask on first.”
GALLERY: Aftermath of Helene's remnants in Boone area, Monday Sept. 30
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Boil water advisory lifted in Boone
Town officials in Boone have lifted its boil water advisory for their residents amid the floodwater in the town from Tropical Storm Helene.
Boone officials took water samples from many locations throughout the town’s water system, the town said in a statement. The tests on those samples came back absent or negative for contamination. The town’s water is safe for human consumption, the town said.
“This event has been unprecedented in the Boone’s modern history,” the town said. “The combination of rapid flooding and high winds from Hurricane Helene created washouts and ground shifting that produced roadway failure, sinkholes, mudslides and down trees all of which contributed to numerous water main breaks …”
The town’s water treatment plant is operating, and the water system storage capacity has been restored, the town said.
“However, the full extent of damage is still being assessed and evaluated and will continue,” the town said.
The town imposed its boil-water advisory Friday because of multiple broken water pipes throughout Boone, the town said.
- John Hinton
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