Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
Cane Creek, a long-time flood hazard, washed out some 60 yards of State Hwy. 226 in Bakersville and shut down the town’s wastewater treatment capabilities in the Sept. 26 floods.
Mayor Charles E. Vines said the town’s infrastructure has been hard hit, especially the water and sewer systems.
“Our wastewater treatment plant is a big issue right now, and that’s going to be long-term,” Vines said. “We can’t process any waste that’s going into the system now, and everybody’s flushing commodes with water that they’re picking up. ... Those manhole covers, they’re going to start coming off and that waste is going to come out of it.”
However, Vines said the town is making progress on repairs.
“We’re working hard to get our wastewater and our water system back on-line,” he said. “We’ve got a team up from down state that’s up here helping to repair busted sewer lines in the creek right now.”
Water & supply distribution
The relief effort is also ongoing.
“The fire department is still providing meals,” Vines said. “Bowman [Middle] School is a staging point where you can pick up water and stuff like that. Outside of that, everybody’s working hard to try to recover what they can.”
If they can make it to Ledger, Bakersville residents can also pick up supplies from a large distribution center being operation out of the new Mitchell Middle School. Mitchell County Schools personnel are volunteering to distribute a large store of donated items at the site.
Shana Cook, the technology director for the school system, said a steady stream of people in need have come to the school to pick up supplies.
“It’s been a constant flow,” said volunteer Kristie Autrey. “And if it hasn’t been a constant flow of people picking up what they need, it’s people in the community picking up for others and taking it out to areas where people can’t get out.”
A variety of needs
Cook said the most commonly requested items are canned food, bottled water and infant care products. Jugs for collecting water at home are also in high demand.
“We’re starting to give out more clothes — people are just now coming in to ask for clothes, because honestly I just don’t think they’ve been able to get out until this point,” Autrey said. “There are still areas where they can only get in with a side-by side [utility vehicle] or a four-wheeler. Beaver Creek ... was in shambles.”
Cook said some of those coming for supplies are in dire straits.
“Some people have absolutely nothing left and some people ... are coming in because yes, they might have lost something but they see their neighbor down the road and they’re wanting to take to them because they can’t get out,” Cook said. “It’s every degree [of loss].”
The relief center is opening up at 10 a.m. most days and staying open until whatever point in the evening that people stop dropping by for supplies. And the volunteers are also struggling, so getting to and from Ledger can be a challenge.
“It took me almost an hour to get through Red Hill,” Cook said. “Now I did make stops to help people ... but the road that I did travel on is now closed. It’s crazy — you never know if you make it to one place you don’t know if you’re going to make it back.
Patrick Lafferty came to Ledger to get supplies because he lives nearby and wanted to avoid adding traffic to the damaged and chaotic roadways.
“I live right behind the school here, and there’s 20 homes,” he said. “All the homes were fine, except for one, which got in the way of a tree. The neighbor there got out his Tomcat and chainsaw and cleared all our roads first day.”
Lafferty has a certain amount of familiarity with hurricane relief.
“I moved here in 2006 ... from South Florida, so I’ve been through Andrew and two other hurricanes,” he said. “Even Andrew, as bad as it was, was nothing like this.”