County officials said that with the loss of the bridges, more than 20 residents would be unreachable by first responders because the bridges that once carried vehicles over rivers washed away in the hurricane and haven’t been rebuilt.
“There are several people that we can’t get emergency access to,” Barrier said.
The rainstorm is the latest setback for the mountainous Avery County, with a population of 18,000.
More than 400 residents were displaced and about 120 homes were destroyed or severely damaged by Hurricane Helene, county officials estimate.
Building temporary housing, removing massive amounts of debris and restoring riverbanks has been slow, Barrier said, adding that many displaced residents are either staying in hotels, with family or in campers on their properties.
“It’s been super slow,” Barrier said of the recovery efforts. “It’s been normal in areas, but it’s been far from normal in other places.”
Robin Ollis, founder of Bridges for Avery, the organization that built the now-washed away structures, said she feared families with children and elderly people would be stranded.
Ever since the violent hurricane stormed through the hills and hollers of Avery County, residents have been struggling to come to terms with what happened to their hometowns, she said.
“There’s been sadness and confusion about the recovery efforts,” Ollis said.
Helene killed at least 223 people across the Southeast, about half of them in North Carolina, authorities have said.
It displaced tens of thousands across western North Carolina, where the federal government has already spent $500 million in cleanup efforts.
In some places, entire blocks where homes once stood have been wiped away and waterlogged vehicles rot in the weak winter sun.
Buncombe County is expected to lose nearly $600 million in revenue this winter on travel, lodging and related spending.
More than 100 small businesses in Asheville, North Carolina, have already closed because of infrastructure damage or declining revenue or both.