40 deaths confirmed in western North Carolina; FEMA arrives in AVL

The Macon County Sheriff's Office confirmed that one of the courthouse security officers died in the storm.

“At 11:30 a.m. on September 27th, a 911 call came in about a truck in the river on Fulton Road. Witnesses said they saw someone in the truck before it went underwater,” the Macon County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook.

“It quickly became apparent that one of our courthouse security officers, Jim Lau, had not returned to work from lunch and his truck matched the description of the truck seen in the river,” the post said. Lau was found during a search on September 28th.

“Jim was well-liked and respected in our department. He was known as a hard-working and reliable worker and stepped in wherever help was needed. His absence will be felt in our agency.

We ask for prayers for this family and their loved ones, and we ask for prayers for our department. Continue to pray for Western North Carolina as a whole; The tragedy surrounding our mountain communities is unimaginable.”

The NC State Highway Patrol is the investigating agency for this incident and it is an ongoing investigation.

Macon County Emergency Management Director Warren Cabe said there are still communication issues in the county, but the communities of Highlands and Cullasaja were hit hardest by wind damage and flooding, respectively.

Numerous water rescues took place Friday and there was at least one storm-related fatality, Cabe said.

No one is being reported missing at this time, Cabe said, but workers have not been able to complete all of the welfare checks they are receiving due to the volume of calls.

“Also, we just want to reassure people outside the region that if you have family or friends here that you are worried about and you can't reach them, it's probably because of limited communication. We just want them to be assured that a lot of people here are doing well, but we just don’t have a way to talk to them.”

There is no estimated time for power to be restored to the Highlands and Cashiers area. There is road access via Buck Creek and Highway 64 East through the Cullasaja Gorge.

“We still have some challenges to overcome on Highway 106, when it opens it will probably be down to one lane,” Cabe said.

Cabe said rescue workers were able to get to the Highlands for the first time on Sunday to look at the damage.

“Some of these areas are still inaccessible due to the many fallen trees and power poles. From our assessment yesterday, I know that there was at least one home in Cullasaja that suffered severe flood damage, a few with moderate flood damage, and numerous homes and mobile homes with some damage.

Cabe says the availability of cell service and Wi-Fi in the county is sometimes inadequate. The county's 911 emergency number can be reached by phone or text message.

“Our counties, like most counties in western North Carolina, are being rerouted to counties in the east,” Cabe said.

There is currently no timeline for when the region will be reconnected to communications.

“We would advise people to be patient. Many businesses operate cash-only because they have limited network connectivity. So be patient with these people. We are also asking people to avoid the Highlands area unless absolutely necessary so that utility workers have the space they need to do the work they need to do,” Cabe said.