The French Broad River MPO has developed a GIS- based tool for collecting data on municipal and private transportation assets that have been damaged as a result of Hurricane Helene. As of right now, the data collection for the 4,088 miles of state-maintained roads in our region is fairly robust, but we'd like to combine that with municipal and private assets to help get a better picture of the full impact of the storm to our transportation network. Anyone should be able to use this tool (you do not need the ESRI Survey 123 tool), but to be clear, entering data into this tool should not be considered the same as providing this information to FEMA or any other recovery agency- THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. If you are aware of a city/town/private road, bridge, greenway, sidewalk, or other transportation facility that has been damaged as a result of Hurricane Helene, please take just a couple of minutes to enter this information. Thank you for your time. 

WNC Multi-Modal Transportation Incident Reporting

Spoke to a rep as I’ve been waiting 19 days since I applied and no update they said application has not been seen by anybody (at least they didn’t lie) they updated my application to say I have not received aid from elsewhere but said I would have to wait longer for review so I guess the waiting game will never end….

This post is to get feedback, because it's a very confusing process. And I support FEMA, this is not a dig on FEMA. I plan to go in person to the Waynesville FEMA location, because getting this questions answered over the phone is very hard.

I'm genuinely trying to understand how the process works, because it seems like if you have $10k-$15k of damage, you need to really think through if FEMA money will benefit you in the long run. Much of their money is tied to getting Flood Insurance. You may be required to get it immediately, or you may be required to get it within three years. And to what degree does FEMA and Insurance companies use property owners applications to re-draw future flood plain maps. I have withheld from applying because I only had $700 worth of damage (and I am willing to eat it, some of that is food spoilage which they do not cover). But I am helping neighbors who have $10-$30k in damage. Is there a tipping point, where it doesn't make sense to 'accept FEMA money' because it may be tied to future required flood insurance (or an unfavorable flood plain re-draw)?

For example: half my neighbor's house is in the 100 year flood plan (yep, half of it) - my house is not in the flood plain. The neighbor on the other side is 100% in the flood plain.

Alright, who are the best contractors in our area? Solid work, fair pricing, etc.

Looking for friends to hangout with over the weekends and play games together

Hi folks,

I'm guessing some will have seen that Valencia, Spain has experienced something similar to Asheville and its environs, this week, perhaps even worse, in terms of death toll. If not, the following BBC article provides a summary: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxrnlld95zo

As a European who has lived mostly in Asheville for 20+ years, it's always been a town that European friends and family have fallen in love with, when visiting. I know at least a couple who personally made donations after our recent floods, from back in Europe. Valencia is a gorgeous old city, very different but with some of the same unique/odd spirit that Asheville represents. For anyone who's able and would like to make a donation to the Spanish Red Cross or animal rescue groups, the following r/Valencia thread gives some options.

https://www.reddit.com/r/valencia/comments/1gge79i/donations/

Note: I in no way represent any of these organziations nor have a direct connection to Valencia, other than having visited several times and having friends there. Simply a help-if-you-can PSA.

I know it's still early for everything to be fully opening up but are there any breweries or bars that are staying open past 10 pm? I haven't been to downtown at all in the past month but would like to grab some drinks this weekend.

Obviously alot of stores likely made claims on insurance and threw away most flooded items. My question is where would I find that stuff? The Buncombe county landfill? It might seem silly bit I think it would be cool to find salvageable/fixable furniture, electronics or other merchandise that would otherwise fill up our landfill. Is any of this stuff resold at auction or found elsewhere?

Hi everyone, I’m reaching out for advice on restoring land lost to flooding. I own about 25 acres, including a section of farmland, that was hit hard during the flooding from Helene. A large chunk of an embankment, which is about 30-40 feet above the creek, collapsed, and I’d estimate I lost roughly a quarter acre to the creek below.

Is there any funding or grant assistance out there to help with land restoration? I’d love to at least strengthen the embankment to prevent further erosion, and ideally recover some of the land if possible. Any advice on federal, state, or local resources—or even community projects—that might help would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Anyone available to come to north Asheville for a full set of gel X or gel nails today?

What world are all these people living in? Example: There's a 2 bed 2 bath home listed for between $800-900k that was in the flood plane, experienced damage, and the owners are lying about it having no damage in their listing. I know this is one of many as owners from both in and out of town are trying to offload their AirBnB stock. It's delusional and gross. Anyone else seeing this? Is there any upside of housing prices maybe coming down once the delulus GTFO? Or will people just hold?

Looking for a reputable florist in Weaverville, that does delivery? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

I usually do not frequent downtown venues and breweries due to the (very light) hassle that comes with parking etc. I went down to Dirty Jacks this afternoon and the bartender pretty much said without the tourists (which many of you despise on here) they really need locals. Some come on down!

Anyone know of a place that has carving pumpkins for sale today?

This means if a calamity lasts for a year, Hawthorne's contract states you, as a renter, are obligated to pay for a year while they are legally relieved. Is this even fair under the eyes of a court? Don't sign contracts that don't protect your rights! New Hawthorne Community subreddit live!

https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckHawthorne/s/3cMFvWVwp4

I’ve been a dungeon master for 6 years and looking to start a new group. Most of my previous members moved away or life happened, so we ended up taking a break. But now I’m ready to dust off those adventure modules and roll at the table once again!

I’m a 35 yr old male living in West AVL looking to host a once a week session with other interested adventurers. My games are story driven, lax on rules, and accepting of all backgrounds. Hard lines and veils can be discussed further, but I wanna make sure you feel comfortable and have fun. Alcohol is often present at the table so must be at least 21.

For my references, I was the DM for Morgan’s Comics for 2 years and I’ve GMd at AVL Scare Fest. I have all the 5th edition materials, so you wouldn’t have to bring much to a game to get started.

I’d like to start off with a couple one-shots to make sure the group gets to know each other and feels comfortable adventuring before we moved into a larger time commitment.

If you’re interested, send me a DM with what your availability looks like. Let me know how much experience you have with table top RPGs. This will be new player friendly, so don’t let the lack of experience stop ya.

Looking to start games the week of Nov 11th. Hope to see ya!

Is there anywhere around town I could pick on up?

Hello all - I had a ticket to see one of my favorite bands in Asheville but I wasn't able to get lodging. Happy to give away the ticket for free. The genre is soul pop and the lead singer can really belt. Anyone who wants it - happy to send it to the first person interested. Just didn't want it to go to waste.

Is there no press briefing today? Thought we’d be hearing an update on the water supply situation.

Hi all, as the title says, DoorDash is currently looking for more drivers in the Asheville area. I lost my job just before the storm and have been using it as my main source of income since. Right now they are running a referral promotion awarding a $600 bonus to new drivers who complete 290 deliveries within 60 days.

This can be a secondary source of income or for anyone who is currently between jobs. Your schedule is completely flexible and you have the ability to accept or deny orders based on the pay offered. I wanted to promote this because being in between jobs I could certainly use the bonus myself, and thought it might be a good opportunity for someone who, like many of us, are trying to figure out what comes in the aftermath of the storm.

If you’re interested, please use my referral link to sign up and become eligible for the $600 bonus after 60 days. Thanks for your time!

https://drd.sh/63rKNqgutVzcE6cm/

Hello all.

We are having our wedding in Asheville in November. This has been a very special place in our story and we are so very fortunate to have it still being able to be held despite everything with Helene.

We understand what you all have been going through and want to be sensitive to the area and the people who make Asheville, Asheville.

We ourselves went through Helene but we were lucky.

How can we and our guests help when we come?

I’ve seen posts about spending money but don’t expect the same Asheville and we understand that.

Is there any cleanup we can help with still? Donation items we can bring?

Are there any bars that we can visit during the week that will be open past 9pm? Any with darts? 🎯

We definitely will be visiting the shops downtown and surrounding areas.

What are some recommendations you have?

Any advice is appreciated.

I was just reading the post about starting up tourism and I thought that ya’ll might just need a lil break. Another way to stimulate local economy might be to promote a Christmas shopping guide to local small business, craftspeople, artists. I’m planning an noncorporate Christmas and would love to spend my money there. I know I’m not alone. Please help me and others find some lovely things to buy our loved ones and our selves.

My lease is ending this month. Found a new apartment nearby but they mentioned they can't move people in until there's potable water, but seems like that's not gonna be possible for a while.

Are there any temporary work-arounds being floated so people can have a place to live before Thanksgiving?

https://wlos.com/news/local/work-stoppage-resolved-after-linemen-demand-full-compensation-for-recovery-efforts-helene-next-era-communications-mastec-spectrum

Is the City of Asheville and Buncombe county too broke to fix the water system in a meaningful way? Is a significant change coming to the way the city approaches needed repairs to aging systems? I’ve been thinking about last winter’s water outages and wondering if the needed fixes are now in place to prevent that from happening again. It’s clear that a filtration system is also needed, and that we currently don’t have one because historically there was no need. But that was historically, in the past. Climate Change is real (duh), changing weather patterns are real and the area can’t afford to do this again next year or the year after. So much relies on tourism and tourist season is over for the rest of this year at least. The people who are renting can break their leases but why should they have to leave an area that they know and love? People with homes will have a tough time selling and people who would consider moving here and creating a business here might not when the return of clean water is “indefinite”. The number of downed power lines, toppled street lamps, and general mess of cables and wires on every street seems like a year’s worth of clean up. Should there be a much bigger COA push to bury power lines and get a more robust water system in place before it’s another emergency?