BOONE, N.C. — Just two hours north of Charlotte, Boone is facing a long and challenging recovery after Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction across Watauga County.
King Street was completely flooded when the storm brought torrential rain on Friday, then high winds knocked down countless trees and power lines. Mayor Tim Futrelle announced the town is operating under a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew to reduce the number of cars on potentially flooded roads.
Futrelle urged everyone to stay home when possible, telling residents that Blue Ridge Energy crews were working tirelessly to restore power as quickly as possible. In the meantime, a water distribution center has been set up at Watauga High School and an emergency shelter is open at Appalachian State University. The shelter is located at the Holmes Convention Center at 111 Rivers Street. The shelter has food, water and dry beds available. Off-campus students, faculty and staff can call 1-800-RED-CROSS for information.
Classes at App State will be canceled through at least Friday, Oct. 4, due to the storm.
"The lack of communication we are experiencing currently is something we have not yet seen before," Futrelle said. "Our network providers are working together to repair all damaged towers. Our primary issue, however, is off the mountain where a relay switch to fiber connectivity has been damaged. The repairs for this part of the network currently do not have a timeline."
Residents are still stunned by what they saw during the storm.
"People losing buildings, people losing items, Walmart got flooded," one App State student said. "Those sources are good, not just for college students, but our local community who don't have another place to go."
"It was complete devastation with this flooding," another student said. "We're advised to go home but some people can't even do that because bridges and roads home are completely wiped out and destroyed."