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 dig 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 dug, 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.)
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