BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. — A year ago today, people in Buncombe County had no idea what was coming. In a matter of days, they’d be wiped off the grid, no communication with the rest of the world.
After Hurricane Helene, no one there had cell service.
Channel 9’s Johnathan Lowe was in Asheville when the storm hit. He went back to ask officials what they learned and how they’ve adapted for future disasters.
“At the top of the storm, half a million people across western North Carolina were missing,” said Sara Nichols, a program manager with the Land-Of Sky Regional Council. “Most of them were fine, but they couldn’t communicate to their loved ones.”
“The biggest tell that we had a communication problem was when our phone lines went dark in our 911 center,” said Lillian Govus, a Buncombe County spokeswoman.
In the hours after Helene, everyone and everything was cut off for hours.
“We have very rural areas here in Buncombe County where people don’t have access to the internet,” Govus said.
From county leaders to residents trying to escape flood waters, Govus said there was a point when it felt like being on a deserted island.
“Phone lines were gone, fiber was gone, cell towers were down,” Govus said.
“It’s scary for everyone outside, inside terrifying when you’re running out of food and water,” Nichols said.
Experts said the loss of phone and internet communication with the outside world was unprecedented.
“We’ve since learned that this is the closest thing the United States has seen to a total blackout and so everyone is watching to see what we do next to recover and are more resilient,” Nichols said.
Land-Of Sky Regional Council is a planning and development organization that represents several western North Carolina counties, including Buncombe. The council has been integral, before and after Helene, in securing more resilient broadband and internet service for the area.
“We sprung into action quickly deploying starlink units, and other kinds of technologies to get things connected while we were waiting for infrastructure to come back online,” said Nichols.
National cell phone providers like Verizon Wireless, US Cellular, and AT&T were a big part of that. In the early hours, trucking in mobile cell phone towers. Nichols said one thing became crystal clear about how to rebuild.
“There wasn’t a lot of satellite technology in the region,” said Nichols. “We have been thought of as a climate haven.”
In other words, a geographic area considered more desirable because of its supposed protection from severe weather. No longer is that thinking wise, Nichols said. In the last year, heaps of work have gone into formulating a more robust disaster communications plan.
“Mobile technologies that are more nimble, and resilient,” said Nichols.
After any disaster, survivors often gravitate to the usual areas like churches and community centers, so Nichols said why not set up “micro grids” at those sites.
“A place to charge your cell phone and make a phone call,” she said.
But it’s not just ‘after’ the fact. The placement of ‘new’ cell phone towers will be important too.
“Maybe instead of being built along riverbeds could they be physically built just a different way or further away from rivers,” said Nichols.
In the communications chain, a cell phone is the only thing actually wireless, yet we often rely on them as the ‘most’ sure thing when we’re most vulnerable.
“I think if you talk to a lot of people in our community now, our philosophy on how we use technology and how we rely on it is very different,” Nichols said.
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