Thaindian News

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue on Friday has declared a state of emergency to help fifteen western North Carolina counties to recover from snow and ice storms that hit the state last month.

The declaration of a state of emergency is the first step in seeking federal funds to pay for debris clearing, emergency utility restoration, and other damages. The state is seeking more than $9 million in funds.

“The federal assistance is needed to help our communities recover losses from the heavy snows, icing and flooding,” Perdue said. “Power service was lost to thousands of residents, drinking water facilities were damaged and significant amounts of debris had to be cleared. I want to commend our local and state emergency management, law enforcement and transportation officials for their outstanding response and tireless work to respond to these storms.”

Local, state, and federal crews surveyed the damage throughout the area last week, preliminary damage assessments indicate costs to cover from the back-to-back winter storms will exceed $12.5 million.

The emergency declaration covers Alleghany, Avery, Ashe, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Haywood, Jackson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey counties. Watauga and Madison counties incurred the most damage, with $3.3 million and $1.1 million in damages respectively. Ashe, Avery, Burke and Haywood counties each sustained more than $1 million in damages.

The winter storms that began December 18 blanketed much of the western part of the state with up to two feet of snow in a 48-hour period. The heavy snowfall stranded a number of motorists for hours, many sought refuge in shelters. Ice and snow from the storm knocked down trees, damaged roads and bridges and caused widespread power outages for thousands.

A week later, heavy rains caused flooding and icing downing more trees and leading to additional power outages.