Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood said the number of confirmed deaths in the county stands at five people as of Oct. 4, a week after Tropical Storm Helene tore through Western North Carolina, causing historic flooding in the French Broad River and other area waterways while leaving behind scenes of devastation.
According to Harwood, four of the five bodies have been recovered, while the fifth has been confirmed but a body has not been recovered.
The News-Record & Sentinel spoke with Harwood in Hot Springs at the town’s elementary school, where school and school system officials including Assistant Superintendent Lisa Gahagan and Hot Springs Elementary School principal Jimmie McGregor are coordinating relief efforts with Madison town officials including Mayor Abby Norton and Hot Springs Town Board member Wendy Stancil, and working with other community members to conduct dropoffs and deliveries to families in the town.
The News-Record met with Norton Oct. 4, and the mayor said that within the roughly 6-mile radius the Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department operates in, everyone is accounted for.
But according to Norton and other town officials, the relief efforts have been organized entirely by local officials, as the town has not had federal nor state officials on the ground to offer support as of yet.
As for enhanced law enforcement, there were reinforcements deployed to the town, as there have been throughout the county, particularly at the county Emergency Operations Center, Norton said.
Ed Conrow, who works with the state Incident Management Team, said he and his team arrived to offer Hot Springs support Oct. 4.
According to Conrow, the town of Hot Springs put a request in to the state for support, and from there, the state emergency management team reached out to him at his home agency in Ocean Isle Beach, near Wilmington.
Conrow said the Incident Management Team’s duties are to support the functions of the town.
“We basically come in and orchestrate everything, kind of help coordinate and divide responsibilities, set responsibilities, documenting, helping them find what they need,” Conrow said.
The extra manpower was a much-needed relief, Norton said.
“I gave him a hug when he got here,” she said.
Normally, the town of Hot Springs typically operates with one police officer, with Hot Springs Police Chief David Shelton serving as the lone officer. Shelton also works security with UNC Asheville.
“My goal is to let her phone ring a lot less,” Conrow said.
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