Interested in Infrastructure?
Get Infrastructure articles, news and videos right in your inbox! Sign up now.
Infrastructure + Get Alerts@wakeupworld The main reason Asheville is without water is due to severe breaks in the main water line from the Laurel Ridge, Black Mountain reservoir, which supplies 2/3 of the city's water. To make matters worse, the pumping stations are either damaged or without power. It’s been 5 days since Asheville has has Water, Electricity, or Cell Service 🙏 #asheville #flood #hurricane #helene #water #pipe ♬ Subete no mono no owari wa sugu ni yattekuru.7 - Rory in early 20s
Two weeks after Hurricane Helene struck Asheville, N.C., the city is still struggling with a major water crisis. The North Fork Reservoir, which supplies over 70% of Asheville’s water, was compromised by storm-driven sediment, leaving the water murky and untreated. Efforts to restore clean drinking water include reconnecting a bypass water mainline and applying aluminum sulfate to accelerate particle settling in the reservoir.
However, the main reason for Asheville’s extended water outage stems from severe breaks in the main water line from the Laurel Ridge and Black Mountain reservoirs, which supply two-thirds of the city’s water. To make matters worse, the storm also damaged pumping stations, and several are still without power, further delaying restoration efforts. As a result, Asheville has been without water, electricity, or cell service for five days.
In response, bottled water distribution sites have been set up to help the 417,000 residents affected by the crisis. Local and state officials, including Governor Roy Cooper, have emphasized the importance of not just rebuilding but strengthening the region’s infrastructure to withstand future storms like Helene.
Recovery efforts are ongoing, but full restoration could take weeks or even months.
For more details on Asheville’s recovery efforts, check out a full article below on the water supply issue.
