Several hundred people took shelter Friday at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville after evacuations forced them from their residences.
Many of the people BPR spoke with were unhoused, came from other shelters or other permanent supportive housing.
They arrived in city buses, escorted by law enforcement and National Guard members.
Most people gathered in the ticketing and concessions area where volunteers distributed towels and t-shirts. They formed long lines for chicken sandwiches, corn and chips.
Evacuees described leaving their residences in a rush.
One family of four, the Pettifalls, were evacuated from the Super 8 Hotel on Tunnel Road.
They watched as water seeping into their room Friday morning until the mattresses were floating.
"The bed started floating, and it kind of scared me too because the water was bubbling," teenager Hailey Pettifall said.
They went into the lobby of the hotel where they were ushered out and onto the bus. They didn't have time to grab even basic personal items, like shoes.
"Like everything we had was there. All of my shoes. All of my clothes," Pettifall said.
They arrived to the Harrah's center in wet clothing and barefoot.
"I was going to bring my shoes, but I didn't have enough time for that, so I'm just walking around in my socks," Pettifall said.
As night fell on Western North Carolina, more than 250,000 homes and businesses remained without power.
In Buncombe County, a curfew called for all non-emergency personnel to stay off the roads after 7:30pm Thursday until 7:30am Friday.
Hendersonville also issued a curfew from 8pm to 8am. The measure stays in effect until it is rescinded or amended by the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem.
Note: This post has been updated to include comment from the Governor's office.
Helene brought many threats to health and safety including flooding, dangerous roadways and high winds.
But one issue has plagued the region since Helene made landfall: lack of cell service.
"North Carolina Emergency Management has been in contact with numerous wireless providers and the Governor talked personally with representatives from AT&T and Verizon to urge them to find connectivity solutions and to request assistance when it is safe to make repairs," Mary Scott Winstead, a spokesperson for Gov. Cooper said in a statement to BPR. "Site assessments and restoration in areas that can be safely accessed are underway.”
Cell phone service providers say they are working to address the issues.
"Hurricane Helene brought massive devastation throughout the area resulting in power outages and fiber damage from high winds, debris and flooding caused by the storm," a Verizon spokesperson said in an email to BPR.
"In the Carolinas, customers are experiencing service impacts from Greenville, SC up through Western North Carolina. Site repairs will begin as soon as it is safe to do so, with Verizon crews working around the clock to restore service as quickly as possible."
The North Carolina Emergency Management Department confirmed degradation of cell service in Western North Carolina.
AT&T is offering waiver of coverage charges for wireless customers in particular zip codes between September 27, 2024 and October 27, 2024.
A list of eligible zip codes may be found here.
"Our network teams are working as quickly and safely to assess damage and begin restoring service in areas impacted by Hurricane Helene," an AT&T representative said in an email to BPR.
There will be a curfew for the next two nights in Asheville starting Friday (Sept. 27) evening, at 7:30 p.m., according to Asheville Police Chief Mike Lamb. The curfew runs through dawn Saturday and Sunday.
During a joint news conference with Buncombe County leaders on Friday afternoon, Lamb said the curfew requires people to stay sheltered and off the roads.
“It's very dangerous out there,” Lamb said. “There are no traffic signals. Intersections are dangerous, roadways are dangerous and power lines are down.”
Emergency Services Director Taylor Jones called the impact of Hurricane Helene "unequivocally the most significant natural disaster of our lifetime in Buncombe County."
This morning, the city opened an emergency shelter at Harrah’s Cherokee Center. That has almost reached its capacity of 400, according to officials. The county has a shelter at the WNC Ag Center with a capacity of 500. So far, around 150 people are there, according to county manager Avril Pinder.
The city and county plan to open a third shelter at AB-Tech soon, despite no power being available there. It will have a 500 capacity.
City and county officials could not confirm whether there have been fatalities due to the devastating flooding, landslides and treacherous conditions.
They said they have fielded more than 5,000 emergency calls and have been handling 9 to 10 calls per minute. Emergency officials have also conducted more than 130 swiftwater rescue operations.
Large swaths of I-40 and I-26 are damaged by flooding and landslides and will remain closed. Most of the region has lost cell service or electricity - or both.
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