Amanda Murphy

I've got a friend on the ground in Buncombe County in western NC:

Updates for anyone in Western NC, especially those NOT downtown Asheville or in Arden. Please send these to your contacts currently in Western NC.

Emergency unemployment for anyone out of work: https://www.des.nc.gov/dua - also helps sole proprietors and contractors and 1099s

Fill out this form online or call in and go help older people call in - this is where people can begin registering for FEMA assistance of all kinds both now and in the future. They'll need it for things like homeowners insurance that doesn't cover flooding, reimbursement for power and water and lost food, etc etc: https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or FEMA Helpline: 1-800-621-3362, 7am to 10pm, 7 days a week. - FEMA has hotel vouchers at the same line: 1.800.621.3362 7am-10pm (Verified by AHA)

SBA.gov manages small business disaster funding which can help small businesses float through for unemployment and rebuilding, and Mountain Bizworks can also help with these programs: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance

Please, please tell people who evacuated NOT to come back yet even if their power is back on unless they absolutely have to. Resources are still in priority one status, which is simply saving lives, and even if they bring their own food and water they'll be straining the sewer systems and roads in addition to emergency response.

The NC Dept of Environmental Quality is pointing people to this link for western NC donations. There are water systems down for more than 200k citizens (maybe 400k) in western NC. Please donate and share if you can. Donate to support Western NC: https://pay.payitgov.com/ncdonations

Thanks, ya'll. Our western friends are suffering and several places have zero water, either from their pipes or available to purchase in stores.

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