The Situation in Montreat September 27, 2024

After the Hurricane last September, Montreat was devastated. All five bridges were impassable, mud slides severely affected roadways, more than 180 trees fell on Town rights-of-way, and countless more on private property. Over a dozen water culverts were destroyed. Our water system, like everyone else’s in Western North Carolina, was rendered inoperable. 13” of rain took a toll on all of our roads, collapsing surfaces and undermining edges. Streambanks, so critical to beautiful Flat Creek, were devastated, creating even more mud slides.

Well before the hurricane made landfall, Montreat Public Works staff, Police Department and Town office staff were preparing for the storm. During the storm, Public Works endangered their lives clearing culverts, moving trees from live electrical lines, and other dangerous work to keep us safe. The Montreat Police officers endangered their lives knocking on doors telling residents to evacuate and doing welfare checks. It was heroic work, far above and beyond the call of duty.

Since Then
For the last seven and a half months, staff have been assessing damage and prioritizing projects, repairing and restoring high priority projects, and working closely with FEMA representatives and a disaster assistance consultant. More than $800,000 has been spent on storm projects thus far while still awaiting reimbursement from FEMA.

Those funds were used to:
• Repair our water system within two weeks of the storm, other municipalities were without water for two months or more.
• Pay overtime to staff and hire contractors to supplement our staff
• Bring all five bridges to passable standards
• Repair or replace culverts, protecting against further damage
• Undertake Flat Creek and tributary stream stabilization
• Remove hundreds of dump truck loads of trees and brush to clear our roads and pathways
• Repair some portion of the 17 miles of Montreat roads, stabilizing them until restoration can be done
• Restore the Town Hall to full operating condition
• Remove tons of debris from Welch Field, which was used as a staging area, and regraded, top dressed, and hydroseeded the field to playing condition
• Remove the debris from the Texas Road pedestrian bridge, which was destroyed in the storm
• Clean stormwater pipes and drains by high pressure hydro hoses and vacuum. Tons of mud, silt, and stone were cleared to allow free flowing stormwater.
• Stabilize the streambank on Flat Creek between Lookout Road and the dam. 100’ of stabilization is being done. More than 220 tons of stone were filled in behind the boulder wall at the toe of the creek bank. Compacted soil will be installed on top of the stone, Grass seed and trees will be planted to prevent erosion. This entire project is being done by our Public Works staff.
• Installing wooden guardrails along the Lookout Road bridge when the stabilization project is complete.

Working with FEMA
Town staff have been assessing damage, prioritizing projects, and working closely with FEMA representatives and a disaster assistance consultant. They have identified and grouped 68 storm projects with an estimate of nearly $12 million to restore. That is more than five times the Town’s annual budget.

As of now, our understanding is that FEMA will reimburse the Town for all approved projects related to damage from Hurricane Helene. Here are other facts:
• AS mentioned above, more than $800,000 has been spent by the Town for repairs and restoration since the hurricane on September 27.
• Those funds came from the Town’s General Fund (our savings account), several loans, and generous donations from residents and friends of $265,000.
• We have not received reimbursement on any funds expensed to date.
• We have submitted reimbursement requests to FEMA for this amount plus another $120,000 for projects currently in process or soon to be started.
• FEMA has approved payment on $300,000 of the requests, and we are awaiting reimbursement any day now. The remaining $620,000 will very likely be reimbursed and is currently in process.
• The $300,000 will be used, along with a $120,000 interest free loan from NC Emergency Management, to work on other storm projects.
• Those projects range in complexity and cost (see the list at LIST). Four projects alone are in excess of $5.7 million dollars for road, shoulder, and bank stabilization.
• Another large project is road repairs and repaving. The estimate for these repairs is $1.3 million.
• As a result, we are awaiting work to begin on these larger projects until FEMA reimbursement occurs so we have funds to move ahead.
• In the meantime, Public Works, along with some contractors, are working on “affordable” but high priority projects.

Other Resources

• To view our list of grouped storm recovery projects, please CLICK HERE.
Please note that FEMA organizes projects differently than we might locally. If you don’t see a specific item listed, it has likely been included within a broader project category. If you have questions, feel free to contact Town Manager, Savannah Parrish, for more information.

• Learn more about FEMA’s process by CLICKING HERE.