With No Water, Asheville Hospital Resorts to Drilling a Well

It's unclear when water service to the North Carolina city will be restored
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 3, 2024 12:00 AM CDT
Asheville Hospital Resorts to Digging New Well for Water
The remnants of a waterline serving Asheville, N.C., is piled up downstream from North Fork Reservoir, a main source of water for the city, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, after the line was destroyed during Hurricane Helene in Black Mountain, N.C.   (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Asheville is hundreds of miles from where Hurricane Helene made landfall, but the storm still unleashed absolute devastation on the North Carolina city, which saw some of the heaviest rainfall, NPR reports. The resulting floods destroyed pipes, leaving 100,000 people without water for an undetermined amount of time, the Washington Post reports. So the city's biggest hospital decided it had no choice but to drill a well, NBC News reports. Without water, Mission Hospital was struggling to keep sanitary—a nurse says people were "pooping in bags and buckets," and when patients came in drenched in floodwater full of toxins including gasoline and chemicals, the only way to rinse them off was to find any clean water that was available, pour it into a trash can, and dump it over them.

The hospital has not confirmed a well was drilled, but a source tells NBC the toilets were working and doctors were once again able to wash their hands by Wednesday. The news comes as the death toll from Helene across six states has surpassed 190, Fox Weather reports. Hundreds are missing, the Citizen Times reports. Devastating stories are starting to be reported:

  • Megan Drye lived in Asheville with her parents and 7-year-old son, and was initially exchanging somewhat lighthearted text messages with her sisters about the situation. But as floodwaters rose, the four of them were forced to the home's roof—and then the house collapsed, People reports. They were swept away, and only Drye survived.
  • As siblings Harmony and Derrick Taylor, 7 and 4, slept in their Georgia home on the night Helene made landfall in Florida, an oak tree fell on their house, landing on them in their bedroom and killing both, People reports.
For a first-person account of what it's like in Asheville, see the Hill, or for a look at why the city was previously considered a "climate haven" despite its tragic history, see CNN. (More Hurricane Helene stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X