Dec 9, 2024 · By now, this story of locals living in flimsy tents post-Helene has taken on a life of its own. Especially once the frigid temperatures hit last week, the idea of people living in tents in Swannanoa and Fairview, among the hardest hit areas in Buncombe County, really fueled some outrage, both online and among some […]

Dec 16, 2024 · A Mission Hospital pharmacist who supervised a team that tracked medication histories and prevented errors is suing the hospital, its corporate owner, and her boss after she was fired for posting a comment on social media criticizing what she described as inadequate staffing in her department. The lawsuit, filed in Buncombe County Superior Court on […]

Nov 3, 2024 · Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the fourth installment. Sarah Moore describes the sensation she felt that […]

Oct 6, 2024 · That dreadful sense of loss. We’ve felt it time and again the past nine days, over neighbors who lost lives and homes, over our infrastructure that lost the ability to provide for our basic needs, and over our beloved city and county, unrecognizable in many parts. But Asheville has also lost part of its soul, […]

Dec 30, 2024 · Editor’s Note: As 2024 comes to a close, Asheville Watchdog staffers take you back and inside their most memorable stories and news events of the year. Helene will go down in history not just for the immense damage it caused but also the lives lost – 43 in Buncombe County alone. That statistic will forever […]

3 days ago · Exclusive Series The lives we lost to Helene. Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina.

Nov 21, 2024 · Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the seventh installment. Buncombe County’s homeless advocates feared the worst: Helene […]

Jan 7, 2025 · The state health agency finally released a list of storm-related fatalities this week, more than three months after Tropical Storm Helene, but it includes a woman who died of breast cancer and other inconsistencies that initially conflicted with the agency’s own records. Following questions from Asheville Watchdog, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human […]

Dec 11, 2024 · Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the 10th installment. Makayla Russell remembers her mom, Cathy Jo Blackburn […]

Oct 4, 2024 · In terms of rainfall, flooding, and, tragically, lives lost, Hurricane Helene is officially worse than the historic 1916 and 2004 floods that until last week stood as the most damaging natural disasters in recorded Buncombe County history, according to state climate data. “I just kind of assumed that … we wouldn’t ever actually see another […]