Surviving Hurricane Helene

Jackie Fenstermacher and Cynthia Dunn, who live in a remote section of Buncombe County, said Helene completely caught them off guard due to a lack of communication.

Two Buncombe County women reflect on holding onto mattress to survive Hurricane Helene.

The sisters said it took two days for rescue crews to eventually find them downstream in a pile of debris and airlift them out in a helicopter.

Buncombe County hopes to add sirens, stream gauges almost a year after Helene.

The historic storm forced emergency managers to take a hard look at how they can better protect the public in the future. As a result, Buncombe County has requested almost $12 million for mass notification sirens and stream gauges.

“One of the things that we’ve learned is we need to be a little bit more prepared,” Buncombe County County Manager Avril Pinder told WCNC Charlotte. “That’s what we’ve been focused on, the preparedness aspect of getting ready for the next storm.”

Read the full story at www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/buncombe-county-add-sirens-stream-gauges-after-helene-storm-preparedness-evacuation/275-14e0621f-d574-417c-becd-3df7fbdfadac.