Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:

Question: Any idea why FEMA trailers are not here, and people are still living in tents?

My answer: I don’t know about you, but I was 100 percent expecting to see hundreds of these trailers being flown in beneath the ubiquitous Chinook helicopters we kept seeing after the flood. Disappointing.

Real answer: The first FEMA trailer was set to arrive in Buncombe this week, according to Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder, who addressed the topic at the daily Helene briefing on Thursday.

I’ve been checking with FEMA this week, and I can say the tent situation might be more complicated than you think. More on that in a minute, but let’s get to Pinder’s details offered Thursday.

“Right now we’re siting our first one,” Pinder said. “We’re working through the permitting process, and we have a homeowner who has land that is not in the floodway (where) we can place that house. So this is the first one that we’re working on getting placed this week.”

Pinder said FEMA has three more homes that have been manufactured and are on their way to Buncombe.

“So hopefully by the end of the next week, we will total out four homes that are now sited in Buncombe County,” Pinder said.

FEMA external affairs officer John Mills told me Wednesday that the FEMA homes are being staged in Hickory and that some would be arriving this week in Buncombe County.

“I think they are trying to begin helping survivors who are eligible for these temporary units to begin moving in this month, and even as soon as, I think, this week,” Mills said Wednesday.

Mills said he expects the number of these homes coming into the mountains to number “in the hundreds rather than the thousands, across western North Carolina.”

In the case of disasters like Helene, FEMA provides funds for families to help with housing, and that can include an array of choices to secure shelter.

“That can mean making repairs,” Mills said. “It can mean renting a new place to live or buying a new place to live with the money that FEMA is providing.”

Mills said the FEMA assistance is “designed to jump start someone’s recovery to give them a hand up to begin the recovery process.”

It will take the whole community, including charities and nonprofits, as well as private donations for people who’ve lost everything, to make sure everyone is housed.

As far as folks living in tents, multiple reasons could come into play. Some people have concerns about the security of their homes and want to be near the property. Some may want to use the FEMA funds for rebuilding and not spend it on hotels or other lodging. 

Mills noted that survivors are not required to apply for FEMA disaster assistance, although the agency certainly encourages them to do so.

“We are committed to working with every household, every survivor, on a case by case basis,” Mills said. “And if someone is living in an unsafe situation, we encourage them to get in touch with us and let us know what their needs are, and we may be able to provide financial assistance so that someone can get the place to live temporarily. And we may also be able to make someone eligible to stay in a hotel at no cost, and we pay the hotel directly.”

Pinder explained that FEMA has a “Mass Care Team” that has been working individually with “every single person in the shelter to help address what specific needs they have.” As far as the people remaining in county shelters — 164 people as of Thursday — Pinder said the majority of them were previously unhoused.

“So they don’t have a home to go back to, or land that FEMA can help them to put a mobile home or travel trailer on that site at the moment,” Pinder said. “So we’re working through, ‘How do we address that population in our community?’”

Question: When we moved to Asheville in 2006, we lived just 1.2 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance on Old Charlotte Highway. I would drive what is called “The Commuter Route” every day going to work and coming home — going to work to help set my mind for the day and after work as a reward. I miss those days. As we are seeing portions of the BRP opening, what exactly is the damage from Hendersonville Road to Old Charlotte Highway; Old Charlotte Highway to Tunnel Road; and back at Hendersonville Road to Brevard Road? I dare say, these were the three most traveled routes inside Asheville.

My answer: For the life of me, I cannot understand why the nickname, “The BRP,” never caught on for the Parkway. I mean, you could actually say it, or burp it out. Person one: “What are you doing today?” Person two: “I’m just going up and driving the BRRRRRRPPPPP!” It’s genius.

Real answer: As fate would have it, the National Park Service issued a press release Nov. 6 on this very topic, noting that it had restored access to 11 miles of the Parkway within the Asheville corridor. The reopening spans from milepost 382.5, at U.S. 70 near the Folk Art Center, to milepost 393.6, at N.C. Route 191 near the North Carolina Arboretum, including the French Broad Overlook at milepost 393.8.

“With today’s opening, we have now restored access to over 310 miles of the Parkway,” Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout said in the release. “Incident teams and contractors have been working on this section for over a month, with large numbers of damaged trees, vast amounts of tree debris in the roadway, and heavy equipment at work simultaneously throughout the corridor.”

The Parkway spans 469 miles from Virginia through North Carolina.

The Asheville Visitor Center (milepost 384) has resumed year-round operations daily from 9 a.m.  to 4:30 p.m. The Folk Art Center (milepost 382) will resume operations on Saturday, Nov. 9. 

The Park Service said trails in this section of the Parkway are open “but extreme caution is advised for trail users who may experience hazards resulting from landslides, downed or leaning trees, washouts, and other damage.”

Also, don’t park on the roadside in any location other than official, paved parking areas, as heavy equipment is still active in the area.

Helene left an enormous amount of debris and washouts on the parkway, including the Asheville section.

“Since storm recovery began, National Park Service staff and contractors have moved more than 350,000 cubic feet of storm debris from this 11-mile road segment,” the release states. “This volume of woody debris could fill  nearly 150 shipping containers.”

The Park Service does not have projected opening dates for areas of the Parkway immediately north and south of the 11-mile road segment that opened Wednesday.

“Ongoing roadway and roadside damage evaluations, significant debris removal, and miles of technical hazard tree work remain north of U.S. 70 and south of State Route 191,” the release states. “The NPS will provide updates on those sections when additional information is available.”

Question: Like so many people, I am curious about how Explore Asheville will work with organizations that benefited from the Charlotte Concert for Carolina, which raised nearly $25 million. Is there some form of accountability to ensure that money is spent wisely and that it helps businesses, families, and individuals in need in our communities?

My answer: I’m pulling for it to go toward building more hotels.

Real answer: “All proceeds — estimated at more than $24.5 million — from Concert for Carolina are being split 50/50 between Luke Combs and Eric Church to administer to organizations of their choosing in support of relief efforts across the Carolinas and the Southeast,” Ashley Greenstein, spokesperson for Explore Asheville, said via email. “Combs’ portion is being distributed between Samaritan’s Purse, Manna Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC and Eblen Charities.”

Greenstein said Explore Asheville paid its $1 million sponsorship directly to the concert to then be split equally between these four charities.

“Church’s portion will be directed to his Chief Cares Foundation,” Greenstein said. “Church’s Chief Cares is focused on helping established charities and organizations that are well-managed and organized and capable of swiftly delivering aid directly to the families affected by Hurricane Helene. In a video aired during the concert, Church committed to building 100 homes in Avery County.”

Update on the Always Asheville Fund: Last week I fielded a question about the Explore Asheville Always Asheville Fund, which the organization started to help small independent travel and hospitality businesses throughout Asheville and Buncombe County recover from Helene. A reader had asked why it was taking so long for Explore Asheville to field an application for the grants.

Greenstein’s explanation came in after the deadline, so I’m publishing it now.

She said Explore Asheville announced the new fund on Oct. 7, seeding it with $300,000 from their earned revenue budget.

“Through multiple fundraising efforts, we were able to grow the fund to $770,000 and counting within three weeks,” Greenstein said. “The Always Asheville fund application opened 3.5 weeks after it was announced. on Oct. 31, and is one of the few grant programs currently available for small, independent businesses.”

Explore Asheville is also administering the fund “through an abbreviated process, with the goal of beginning award disbursements before Thanksgiving.”

“We know it’s overwhelming for many businesses to navigate recovery, so we also created a list of available financial resources for businesses and individuals, which we shared in our board meeting last week and can be found at https://always.exploreasheville.com/business-resources,” Greenstein said.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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