Five months after Hurricane Helene tore a destructive path through western North Carolina and Burke County, Â鶹´«Ã½ officials have a better idea of the cost of cleanup.
Â鶹´«Ã½ City Manager Sally Sandy said the city incurred a little more than $46 million in damage from the hurricane.
Damage to city parks make up almost half of that cost with $22.5 million in damage, Sandy said. The water and wastewater departments suffered about $15.7 million in damage, electric accounts for another $3 million and debris and emergency response came in around $4.6 million. CoMPAS cable added another $350,000 to the total.
“Rob Winkler (the city’s special projects manager) said it best, I think, that we are basically now trying to figure out how to do, in the matter of a few years, capital projects ... that it took us 50 or 60 years to build to start with,†Sandy said.
People are also reading…
Repairs to sewer, parks in phases
It took more than a week to restore electricity to city of Â鶹´«Ã½ customers after the hurricane, which hit in late September. Water wasn’t flowing without a boil water advisory for four days.
It took time to restore those services in the immediate aftermath of the storm, but it will take more time to complete full repairs and begin to reopen public spaces that have been closed because of damage.
A front loader pours dirt into a dump truck at the Catawba River Greenway in Â鶹´«Ã½.
“We’re really trying to concentrate on the things that are going to allow us to offer programs and open more facilities soon,†Sandy said.
First up for repair is the city’s wastewater treatment system, which Sandy believes will be fully restored soon. Repairs to the Silver Creek lift station (used to move water through the sewer system) will cost a little more than $1 million, which will be added to an ongoing project at the station.
A section of the boardwalk along the Catawba River Greenway moved during the storm. Sections of the greenway were damaged and covered in mud and debris following flooding from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27.
In parks and recreation, Sandy said Shuey Park and its baseball fields are top priority. Repairs are expected to cost about $500,000.
Also high on the priority list is the Beanstalk Playground at Catawba Meadows, which needs about $150,000 in repairs to be usable again, Sandy said. The maintenance building at the park is slated for the first phase of repairs and is expected to cost another $2 million. The building houses equipment for park upkeep.
The Catawba River Greenway boardwalk behind River Village likely will cost $1.5 to $2 million for all repairs. Sandy said she has plans to ask the city council to approve a contract for demolition of the existing structure this week.
Floods eroded the area around the Catawba River Greenway during Helene and left hundreds of tons of silt along the trail.
The city hopes to reopen the greenway in sections, Sandy said. She said repairs to the greenway near the Rockyford Access, off U.S. Highway 64, will be the last of the greenway to be repaired. The city does not have those repairs worked into the timeline.
Other projects that may start soon include replacing equipment lost in flooding at Catawba Meadows, like golf carts, utility vehicles, mowers, concessions stand equipment and sports equipment.
Replacing everything will cost about $1.1 million, but Sandy said the city will work with its insurance company on the costs and try to make purchases in stages.
Catawba Meadows and the Catawba River Soccer Complex are the priciest repairs the city has to face, with a combined estimated cost of $12 million. The repairs will be complicated, requiring a general contractor and multiple subcontractors for turf, irrigation, sports lighting and more. Those repairs are being saved for a later stage, Sandy said.
“It’s not that we’re not working on them. It’s not that we don’t want them opened. It’s just going to take time and it’s big dollars,†Sandy said. “When I say to you $12 million, if we award a contract, I’ve got to be able to set (aside) $12 million that I can’t spend for anything else.â€
Bleachers were thrown onto the fencing around Field 7 at Catawba Meadows Park in Â鶹´«Ã½. Photo taken in October 2024.
Hurricane challenges remain
Sandy said so far, all of the funding sources for Hurricane Helene recovery are reimbursement programs — which means the city will have to foot the bill until those sources, including FEMA funding, are distributed.
She said the first cost expected to be reimbursed will be emergency and debris cleanup expenses, which totaled about $4.6 million. The FEMA representative working with the city said once all of the expenses are approved, funds should be sent soon.
That could still mean a matter of months, Sandy said.
The city is also working with its insurance providers, including flood insurance, to find out what will be covered by the plans.
“The city is just like everyone else dealing with their insurance companies, right?†Sandy said. “The answers aren’t quick, and it’s not happening as quickly as we might like it.â€
Also still in the air is the impact Helene damage will have on the city’s income from sales and property taxes, canceled events and extended business and facility closures. Sandy said costs for those impacts were not included in her $46 million estimation.
“I don’t think anybody has a grasp on what that’s going to mean and how long all the devastation in western North Carolina is going to have an effect on a lot of things,†Sandy said.
Better days ahead
Times have been trying since the hurricane, Sandy said.
After months of work, the city now has a plan in place to move forward.
“I’m not gonna lie, I have a lot of anxiety over these numbers, time frames, cash, revenue decreases, I have a lot of anxiety over that. ... I’ve been doing this for 33 years here, and I wake up at night worried about it all,†Sandy said.
Sandy credits city staff with the city’s recovery.
“I could not be prouder of our team and the work that they continue to do,†Sandy said. “This is a lot of work, getting these numbers, getting quotes, following procurement processes, it’s a lot, and I could not be prouder of how hard they’re working to still do it.â€
