What Happens When a Hurricane Hits Your Prison?
This area will take years to rebuild.
By: Demeter V Delune
Hurricane Helene dumped more than 12 inches of rain in Western North Carolina last week. Thursday evening is the last time I spoke with Damian. The prison he’s housed in is on the border of Avery and Mitchell counties — two of the counties hardest hit by Hurricane Helene.
If you’ve been living under a rock this last almost week, or like me, avoiding looking at photos, there’s a lot of Western North Carolina that just flat out doesn’t exist any longer. Raging flood waters washed it away.
It isn’t good, folks.
No power. No internet. Whole towns are just gone.
The official website of the Department of Adult Corrections will only say “all facilities are good”, essentially. I’ve been trying to call with no answer. I can’t get information from any source.
Today, I finally heard from a friend with a friend in emergency management close to that area:
“That location is “safe” and everyone is accounted for. They’ve been told there’s enough food/water/supplies right now, but they’re asking for insulin and other medications — they’ve also said phone and email communications will take the better part of a week or…
