Asheville, the scenic mountain city now engulfed by murky brown floodwater.
As the water slowly retreats, “We are seeing just piles of people’s houses that were destroyed. Buildings that were destroyed. Cars overturned,” Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said Monday.
“The power lines look like spaghetti. It’s hard to describe the chaos that it looks like. It really feels like a post-apocalyptic scene.
Many shellshocked survivors can’t even begin the arduous task of rebuilding because they don’t have basic necessities such as clean drinking water, food, cell phone service and electricity.
Three tractor-trailers full of water arrived in Buncombe County Monday morning, Pinder said. But it is only enough to supply each resident with one day’s worth of water.
Compounding the tragedy, some roads and bridges that are desperately needed to carry aid or reach trapped victims are now impassable or no longer exist.
“We are cut off from highway access from 3 of the 4 major highways into Asheville,” the mayor said. “Some resources are having to be flown in. … I can’t even think about a time frame for how long it’s going to take to recover from this storm.”
“We’re not expecting power for a really long time,” Sharp said. “I don’t think anyone expected this to happen because we don’t have stuff like this in Asheville.”
Asheville’s mayor acknowledged she doesn’t know how long it will take to restore electricity.
“This is an unprecedented, catastrophic event,” Manheimer said. “So we cannot yet estimate how long it will take to restore power to everyone.”
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