Without water after Helene, residents of the social housing complex fear for their health

ASHEVILLE – Residents of the Pisgah View Apartments in West Asheville are still without water Sept. 29, two days after Tropical Storm Helene swept across western North Carolina, leaving a trail of destruction that left at least 30 people dead in Buncombe County and power and water shut down in much of the region.

On Sunday, residents of the 256-unit public housing complex managed by the City of Asheville Housing Authority told Citizen Times they were increasingly concerned about the public health impacts that could result from a water shortage that could take weeks to recover.

Pisgah View resident Deborah Kincaid, 56, struggled to speak as she told the Citizen Times that without drinking water, she can't clean the nebulizer and tracheostomy tube in her windpipe that keeps air flowing into her lungs. Kincaid said she has been using the nebulizer for two years to clear mucus from her throat after having her larynx removed following throat cancer. She only has a few small plastic bottles of water.

Kincaid wasn't even able to use her nebulizer until neighbors in a nearby unit ran an extension cord from her apartment to her unit so she could plug in the nebulizer. With nearly 100,000 people without power in Buncombe County as of 12:30 p.m. on September 29, some buildings in the apartment complex still had power.

But they could live without electricity, residents said.

“We just need water,” Julie Brown told Citizen Times on Sept. 29. “There are units where four children use the toilet.”

Flushing not possible, “those are germs, those are bacteria,” said Brown.

Luckily for Kincaid, her neighbors filled a trash can with water from a nearby stream so she could flush her toilet.

More: Asheville was isolated by flooding. The latest in power, cells and more

“Damn End Times”

For days, Buncombe County officials have said water was on the way and distribution sites were being set up. At a media briefing on September 29th at 4 p.m. it was still unclear when this would happen.

Earlier in the day, the city of Asheville released a statement saying full restoration of the city's water system could take weeks.

On Sunday, children in Pisgah View played with a fallen tree branch and hung it on the edge of the playground's jungle gym.

Brown, who residents confirmed was keeping an eye on her neighbors' well-being, yelled at them to stop. And they listened.

“I’m Aunt Julie,” Brown said. “Everyone here calls me Aunt Julie.”

In a unit around the corner, resident Sabrina Commons, 45, told the Citizen Times that her family, which includes four young children, has “no water, no lights – we can't even flush our toilets.”

Even if they had access to water, residents were unsure how they would even be able to purchase it, as many stores only accept cash when they are open.

Virginia Cannon, 54, told Citizen Times that without water, electricity and access to cash in her bank account, there is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness.

She said she felt like she was living in the “fucking end times.”

“I never knew what to do,” Cannon said. “I am the mom. My children always came to me for everything. I could always fix anything for her.”

Now, after Helene, she doesn't know what to do.

More: Western North Carolina flooding: 30 confirmed deaths in Buncombe County from Helene; still no water distribution points

More: Asheville residents took in their neighbors as they watched flooding in Helene sweep away cars and buildings

Jacob Biba is the county watchdog reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared in the Asheville Citizen Times: Without water, some Asheville, NC residents fear for their health