Jerry Cahill has been cleaning toilets as a volunteer since his studio in Asheville’s River Arts District was destroyed by flooding caused by Helen’s remains. Rolando Arrieta/NPR hide caption
Toggle caption Rolando Arrieta/NPR
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — At a public housing complex, volunteers are knocking on apartment doors, offering to help with an activity most of us take for granted.
They carry 5-gallon buckets of water to flush the toilets of grateful residents like John Brown.
“I appreciate the great work you guys are doing,” said Brown, who is visually impaired and uses a wheelchair.
More than two weeks after Helen’s death, some basic things remain difficult in Asheville. Drinking water in plastic bottles is available everywhere, but it is difficult to find water for showering, flushing the toilet, or even washing your hands.
“It’s important work, it needs to get done,” said Jerry Cahill, who has been cleaning toilets as a volunteer with the nonprofit group BeLoved Asheville since his studio in the River Arts District was destroyed by flooding caused by Helen’s remains.
Asheville’s water system was severely damaged in the storm, destroying main pipes connecting its tanks to the rest of the distribution system. There is still no estimate for when service will be restored, although it could take weeks rather than days.
A lack of running water is preventing schools and most restaurants from reopening as concerns about public health grow. That’s why some citizens take matters into their own hands.
“It’s a severe health crisis looming if we don’t flush these toilets,” said Elle DeBruhl, part of a volunteer group called Flush AVL that was formed to distribute so-called gray water from ponds and wells to communities that need it. . The water may not be clean enough to drink, but it is perfect for flushing toilets.
Elle DeBruhl is part of a volunteer group called Flush AVL that was formed after Helen to distribute so-called gray water from ponds and wells to communities that need it.
Joel Rose/NPR hide caption
Toggle caption Joel Rose/NPR
“I don’t want to get sick. I don’t want my neighbors to get sick. I don’t want my community to see more devastation than they’ve already seen,” DeBrule said.
So far, Flush AVL has strategically placed dozens of giant plastic containers each holding at least 250 gallons of water throughout the city. DeBrule said they hope to expand in the coming days to distribute hundreds of additional containers around Asheville.
“We’re grateful for that. It’s worth a million here,” Teresa Thomas said, as she and her son filled plastic containers with gray water in the apartment complex where they live in northwest Asheville.
Teresa Thomas (left) and her son David Murray fill plastic containers with gray water at her apartment complex in Asheville. Joel Rose/NPR hide caption
Toggle caption Joel Rose/NPR
They’re not the only ones here who are happy to have toilets again.
“If we hadn’t had this water when it all started, I would have been busy flushing toilets and everything,” maintenance man Ronnie Marler said.
The city and county also provide gray water, at nearly a dozen emergency distribution sites. At Asheville Middle School, residents stop in their cars to fill buckets and bags with gray water from a silver tanker truck.
Large plastic containers can hold at least 250 gallons of water for flushing toilets. Rolando Arrieta hide caption
Toggle caption rolando arrieta
“The hardest thing is keeping the toilet clean,” Loretta Smith said. “This is the hardest part, I have family members. It’s not just me, you know? So we can’t leave it all sitting around like this.”
In the days following the storm, Asheville residents found all kinds of resourceful ways to drain. Smith says she got help from a neighbor who has a small pond. Akila Parks says he was using floodwater left behind by the storm.
“We had a flooded garage and we used water from the garage to clean up. So to see the storm blessing just meant survival,” Parks said.
A worn-out sedan arrived at the distribution site and out came Jesus Setalan Angeles. Normally, Setalan Angeles teaches seventh grade mathematics at this school. He is now delivering cleaning water to some student families.
“That’s probably the biggest thing. I mean that’s the problem,” Setalan Angeles said. “Some people don’t have access. Some people have access to creeks and pools, but there are areas that are not close to any of these things.
That’s why these improvised water distribution systems will be crucial until the taps turn on again.
