Official Watauga County Information
This page serves as the hub for official information from Watauga County emergency personnel and other municipalities in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
We will continuously update this list with new information as it becomes available. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for additional updates and announcements.
The Summit Pickleball at 278 Industrial Drive, Boone NC 28607 is currently operating as donation intake facility. For information about facility hours and needs, visit this page. We are currently accepting monetary donations through the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation to help with community and business relief.
Donate to the BACC Foundation for Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts
Official Watauga County Resource Information
Other Relevant Boone Chamber Links:
Emergency Service Provider List
Community-Led Resource Deployment & Volunteer Opportunities
The Summit Pickleball Donation Intake Facility
Community Partners:
Town of Boone
Appalachian State University
Watauga County Emergency Services (Includes lists of road closures & other important emergency info.)
UNC Health Appalachian (Provider openings & closings listed on their website.)
Additional Resource Links:
Hurricane Helene Disaster and Assistance Resources from Virgina Foxx
Town of Boone | Posted Saturday, October 5 at 12:30PM
Disaster Assistance representatives are available to help answer questions regarding what you need to do to receive funding for disaster recovery. Hours of operation are 8:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. for locations out in Watauga County.Locations for today, October 5th, will include:
Meat Camp Fire Department
Bethel Baptist Church
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Saturday, October 5 at 11AM
These Community Care Centers are open 7am-7pm daily with ADA showers, toilets, water, and food.
Western Watauga Community Center
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Friday, October 4 at 5:20PM
IMPORTANT message about donating responsibly to the high country.
We thank everyone for the tremendous outpouring of support for Watauga County and neighboring communities. We are fortunate to have had an abundance of supplies donated to multiple partners across our county. With that said, we request that you please PAUSE any unscheduled deliveries to Watauga County sites throughout this weekend, Oct. 5 and 6, to give our partners time to work through our donation stock, reassess current needs and update our distribution plans. Your efforts have been critical to helping us meet immediate needs — please know that our community will continue to need your support in the weeks and months to come. One of the best ways for you to help support our communities now and in the future is by donating to relief funds.
If you wish to make a monetary donation, please consider the following donation sites:
Community Support Site Now Open at Bethel Baptist Church | Shared Friday, October 4
Includes shower facilities, ADA accessible shower, bathrooms, food and water. Open 7AM - 7PM daily.
123 Mountain Dale Rd. Vilas, NC 28692
Location and church information here.
UNC Health Appalachian | Shared on Friday, October 4 at 10:40AM
Watauga Medical Center, Cannon Memorial Hospital, and Appalachian Regional Behavioral Health Hospital are fully operational and open 24/7.
Surgeries have resumed at Watauga Medical Center and will resume at Cannon Memorial Hospital on Monday.
Urgent Care Services
Watauga County 261 Longvue Drive in Boone (across from Watauga Medical Center) from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday – Friday. If urgent care is needed in the Watauga area, staff will be available this weekend.
Avery County Baker Primary Care Center 436 Hospital Drive, Suite 230, Linville, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
For the latest information, please visit https://apprhs.org/
Town of Boone | Posted Friday, October 4 at 9AM
Every day, Town of Boone operations may change. As such, please see below information and guidance so that you may stay informed as a resident and community member:
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Thursday, October 3 at 6PM
List of full and partial road closures from Watauga County Emergency Services can be found by clicking here.
Follow Watauga County Emergency Services' Facebook page for updates.
Town of Boone | Posted Thursday, October 3 at 4:25PM
Watauga County, the Town of Boone, Appalachian State University, and partners are collaborating to keep our community informed about Hurricane Helene's impacts and the resources available for relief. Continue to check this post for updates.FOR EMERGENCIES, CALL 911.
NON-EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS:
CURFEW:
Beginning Oct. 1, 2024, and until further notice, the curfew in place for Watauga County, Town of Blowing Rock and Town of Boone is from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., due to severely compromised roads and ongoing emergency operations in Watauga County.
RESOURCES
(Food, Water, Volunteer & Donation Options, Health Care, Children’s Resources, Debris Cleanup, etc.):
SHELTER:
SHOWERS
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
The Town of Boone, Watauga County and App State have experienced a large volume of requests for volunteer information and an influx of volunteers traveling to the area. While we are extremely grateful, we ask all individuals NOT TO TRAVEL TO THE AREA FOR NOW unless you are part of a coordinated volunteer effort, such as the ones listed below. Consider donating to relief funds or to designated supply collection sites instead. Find info about needed supply lists and collection sites at the resource links above and at boonechamber.com.
VOLUNTEER:
Follow Town of Boone on Facebook.
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Thursday, October 3 at 3:20PM
Remember, this is not the time for tourism. If you are in the area to drop off supplies, please do not drive around to our hard hit areas. Our donation areas are in accessible areas that are safe to reach. Thank you!
Follow Watauga County Emergency Services Facebook page for updates.
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Thursday, October 3 at 12PM
List of full and partial road closures from Watauga County Emergency Services can be found by clicking here.
AppState-ALERT Emergency Messaging | Shared Wednesday, October 2
No classes until after 10/15. Cond. 3 (Closure) extended to 5pm 10/11
Classes are canceled on the App State Boone and Hickory campuses and Adverse Weather Condition 3 (Closure) is in effect through 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11.
With Fall Break, classes will resume no earlier than Oct. 16. The modality and locations will be determined based on conditions and infrastructure, and an update will be shared by Wednesday, Oct. 9.
Road conditions vary and many roads in the area remain treacherous or impassible. Please limit travel and use extreme caution if you are traveling on foot or by vehicle. View Watauga County curfew information here.
For more information click here.
UNC Health Appalachian | Shared Wednesday, October 2 at 2:47PM
Urgent Care Services are available at 261 Longvue Drive in Boone (across from Watauga Medical Center) from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday – Friday and in the Baker Center at 436 Hospital Drive, Suite 230, Linville, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The following Appalachian Regional Medical offices will be open on Thursday, October 3, 2024:
AppInternal Medicine
AppPulmonology
AppRheumatology
AppFamily Medicine
AppGastro
AppOrtho
AppUrology
Baker Primary Care Center
Chestnut Ridge Medical
Heart & Vascular Centers—Ashe and Watauga
Rehabilitation Center Cannon
Rehabilitation Center Watauga
Seby B. Jones Regional Cancer Center
Tate Clinic
Watauga Surgical
Women’s Health
Wound Care at Watauga Medical Center
Elk River Medical (remains closed)
The following Outpatient Diagnostics will be open on Thursday, October 3, 2024:
- Imaging
- Lab
- Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation
- Pulmonary Function Testing
- EEG
- Home Sleep Study (The Sleep Center remains closed)
This information may also be found at https://apprhs.org/openings-and-closings-hurricane-helene/
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Wednesday, October 2
Some roads are still in poor condition or need full repairs. Excessive travel is not advised unless for an emergency. Reducing traffic allows emergency services and repairs to be made effectively. This link will take you to the dashboard of reported road closures:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/bd822739d8294fefb5069513378ad6b5
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Tuesday, October 1
Update to Watauga County Operations: The UPDATED curfew times for Watauga County beginning today, 10/1/2024, and until further notice will be from 11:00pm through 7:00am.
At this time, residents should place segregated storm debris on an accessible NCDOT right-of-way. The county's contractor will pick up the waste from the right-of-way. Please be advised, household trash needs to be taken to one of the opened convenience centers listed above. See below for how to divide debris waste.
Town of Boone | Posted Tuesday, October 1 at 3:20 PM
Watauga County, the Town of Boone, Appalachian State University, and partners are collaborating to keep our community informed about Hurricane Helene's impacts and the resources available. Continue to check this post for updates. For emergencies, call 911.RESOURCES:
SHELTER:
FOOD:
WATER:
CHILDCARE, K-6 ONLY:
PET BOARDING FOR EVACUEES:
INSULIN: (limited quantities)
FEMA ASSISTANCE FOR HOMEOWNERS AND RENTERS:
CURFEW: Beginning Oct. 1, 2024, and until further notice, the curfew in place for Watauga County, Town of Blowing Rock and Town of Boone is from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., due to severely compromised roads and ongoing emergency operations in Watauga County.
CLEANUP ASSISTANCE:
DEBRIS PICKUP/TRASH:
ROAD CONDITIONS:
INTERNET ACCESS:
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
DONATE MONEY:
DONATE SUPPLIES:
This list of resources is subject to change. Many organizations and individuals are also providing resources for our community, and we are unable to provide an exhaustive list of all these resources. We, as a community, want to thank everyone for their patience and their willingness to help their neighbors!
FEMA RESOURCES | Posted Tuesday, October 1 at 10:27 AM
FEMA Resources for Businesses
FEMA and SBA resources will become more targeted in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, for individual and business purposes, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Pictures, videos, descriptions, receipts, and deviations from operating procedures will be helpful in the eventual reimbursement process.
FEMA Assistance for Homeowners & Rentals
IMPORTANT: Document your damages now! Photograph your damages and items you have to throw away. Homeowners and renters in Watauga County can apply for assistance through FEMA. Individuals may utilize: www.disasterassistance.gov, download the FEMA App, or call 1 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily for assistance. More information can be found at: here.
Town of Boone | Posted Monday, Sept 30 at 2:55 PM
BOIL WATER ADVISORY HAS BEEN LIFTED, SOME AREAS WILL STILL EXPERIENCE LITTLE TO NO WATER
A Boil Water Notice was issued on Friday September, 27th due to multiple water main breaks. Many areas of Boone have experienced low or no water pressure over the past 72-hours. Boone is working diligently to make necessary repairs and fully restore water service to our customers however, please note that service may be interrupted periodically as we continue this work.
Hunting Hills Lane, Whitener Drive, Eagle Drive, Horn in the West Drive, and Assembly Drive areas remain partially or fully without water and/or sanitary sewer services. Hunting Hills Lane and Whitner Drive Areas will not be restored for an extended period due to complete roadway washout which includes water and sewer lines however, the Town is developing plans to temporarily restore services as quickly as possible to each of these areas until permanent repairs can be made.
This event has been unprecedented in the Boone’s modern history. The combination of rapid flooding and high winds from Hurricane Helene created washouts and ground shifting that produced roadway failure, sinkholes, mudslides, and down trees all of which contributed to numerous water main breaks in the aforementioned areas of town as well as our emergency interconnection with the Town of Blowing Rock. Our water treatment plant is fully operational and water system storage capacity is restored however, the full extent of damage is still being assessed and evaluated and will continue. Please aid us by conserving water when possible, reporting service outages, damage or water leaks.
Town Staff have taken multiple water samples from many locations throughout our water system for testing all of which have returned absent or negative for contamination.
As of today September, 30th, 2024 at 2:30 PM, the boil water advisory has been lifted. It is safe to use water for human consumption directly from our system.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this difficult period and we respectfully request that continue as we work to make repairs.
Watauga County Emergency Services | Posted Monday, Sept 30 at 12:00 PM
Plain text list of current road closures for at least parts of the roads listed. This is long. Please do not be out unnecessarily. Check on your neighbors. Current 12pm 9/30.
Get the full list here.
UNC Health Appalachian | Shared Monday, Sept 30 at 9:55AM
All Appalachian Regional Medical offices, the Wilma Redmond Breast Center, Wound Care, and Outpatient Rehabilitation will be closed on Monday, September 30 and Tuesday, October 1, 2024. Immediate Care Services will be available in the Heart & Vascular Center at Watauga Medical Center in Boone from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and the Baker Center in Linville from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
The Cancer Center will be open on Tuesday, October 1 for infusions and medical oncology.
Audrey T. Gurkin | Director of Marketing, UNC Health Appalachian
Town of Boone Police Department | Posted Sunday, Sept 29 at 7:00 PM
Hello Community!
Below is a list of important information that will be very helpful:Shelter options:
Road conditions:
Volunteer opportunities:
This list of resources is subject to change. We, as a community, want to thank everyone for their patience and their willingness to help their neighbors and friends.
Watauga County Emergency Services Facebook Update Post | Received Sunday, Sept 29 at 5:22 PM
Watauga County, the Town of Boone, Appalachian State University and partners are collaborating to keep our community informed about Hurricane Helene's impacts and the resources available. Continue to check this post for updates.
Watauga County Schools Statement | Received Sunday Sept 29, at 4:45 PM
Greetings WCS Families--
We wanted to let you know that the District Leadership Team continues to think through next steps and ways to help the community. We are currently working on potential feeding sites, child care options and other ways to support out schools and greater community. Some of our efforts are dependant upon Emergency Management Services and staff availability. We will provide another update in the near future with additional information.
Thank you and please be safe,
WCS Leadership Team
North Carolina Receives Federal Major Disaster Declaration for North Carolina | Received Sunday Sept 29, 2024 at 4:39 PM
President Biden has granted Governor Roy Cooper’s request for a Federal Major Disaster Declaration for Tropical Storm Helene providing immediate federal help for 25 North Carolina counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Keep Reading.
Blue Ridge Energy Battling Catastrophic Damage to Restore Power: 24/7 Effort Lasting into Next Week | Received Sunday Sept 29, 2024 at 2:25PM
Lenoir, North Carolina (Noon –September 29, 2024) – The aftermath of Hurricane Helene has decimated much of western North Carolina and line crews working to repair and replace much of Blue Ridge Energy’s 8,000 miles of power line across seven counties is ongoing to restore power to over 44,000 members are without power as of noon Sunday.
The cooperative serving Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Caldwell counties as well as parts of Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties has all if its line technicians and crews from sister cooperatives, tree and construction workers in the field, totaling 150 line workers. Blue Ridge Energy is awaiting arrival of crews from other states to double that number today in the hopes of expediting efforts to cut their way through downed trees, cut new roads where possible to reach damaged system locations and repair or replace power lines and poles that have been destroyed or severely damaged.
“Crews are actively sawing their way in to reach areas of the electric system that must be repaired, or the lines or broken power poles replaced in order to get power flowing,” said Renee Walker, director of public relations. “Many locations are inaccessible: paved roads are collapsed, mudslides continue to occur, and flooding remains an issue,” she added.
“Hurricane Helene is one of the worst events that I've seen in my career—worse than Hurricane Hugo in 1989,” said Doug Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Ridge Energy. “We're working as hard as we can around the clock to restore electricity to everyone, and we won't stop until every meter is turned back on,” Johnson said.
Blue Ridge Energy advises members that power restoration will be a multi-day effort, lasting into next week, due to extensive damage from the storm that the entire western part of the state is battling. Damage assessment continues by helicopter and drones—the only way to view some inaccessible areas.
At the height of outages on Friday, 63,000 Blue Ridge Energy members were without power. Line crews have made progress although the extent of damage continued to increase over the weekend as flooding and mudslides continued and trees continued falling due to oversaturated ground.
Blue Ridge Energy issues a strong warning to the public that downed power lines can still be energized, and therefore dangerous or even deadly! The cooperative warns the public to stay far away from downed lines, which can be hidden underneath downed trees, water and other affected structures. Only a trained line technician should ever go near a downed power line. Blue Ridge Energy is assessing damage and members can also report downed lines by calling 1-800-451-5474.
While Blue Ridge Energy is aware of outages and system operators are monitoring conditions, members should only report outages by calling PowerLine at 1-800-448-2383, by using the Blue Ridge Energy mobile app, or, by texting OUT to 70216. Outage reports cannot be accepted over social media. Outage status is available 24/7 on the cooperative’s live outage map at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com and on the mobile app.
Emergency Curfew In Place | Received Sunday Sept 29, 2024 at 2:25PM
Due to dangerous conditions remaining, severely compromised roads, and ongoing emergency operations, Watauga County in coordination with the towns of Boone and Blowing Rock have declared a curfew from 7pm to 7am until further notice.
Town of Boone Boil Water Advisory | Received Sunday Sept 29, 2024 at 1:47PM
Due to multiple water main breaks, a Boil Water Notice was issued on Friday, September 27. Many areas of Boone have experienced low or no water pressure over the past 48 hours. The Town of Boone is working diligently to make necessary repairs and fully restore water service to our customers; however, please keep in mind that service may be interrupted periodically. There are select areas of the Town where water service will not be restored for an extended period due to complete roadway washouts, which damaged water and sewer lines. Please boil any water used for human consumption for 1 minute before use.
Watauga County Emergency Services Debris Removal | Received Sunday Sept 29, at 9:03AM
Link to Debris Removal Press Release
Link to Debris Removal Guide
If you have something to add to this list, please email info@boonechamber.com.