A Busted Flush

After the media moves on from natural disasters, communities that experience them are often just beginning a long, hard slog back to normalcy. In Asheville, NC, one of the first problems that needed solving was figuring out how to enable folks to flush their toilets. Luckily, there are often good people who stop doing whatever they usually do in their daily lives and start working full time to help their neighbors. “Asheville’s water system was badly damaged in the storm, which knocked out major pipes connecting its reservoirs to the rest of the distribution system. There’s still no estimate of when service will be restored — though it is likely a matter of weeks, not days. The lack of running water is preventing schools and most restaurants from reopening as concerns about public health mount. That’s why some citizens are taking matters into their own hands.” With no running water, Asheville finds other ways to flush thousands of toilets.

+ Sadly, not everyone in affected areas is being helpful. Those who are being the least helpful are motivated by a familiar force. Some FEMA operations paused in North Carolina after reports National Guard troops saw ‘armed militia’ threatening them.

+ Sometimes, natural disasters in one place can have big impacts on a lot of other places. “More than 86 percent of healthcare providers surveyed across the US are experiencing shortages of intravenous fluids after Hurricane Helene’s rampage took out a manufacturing plant in western North Carolina that makes 60 percent of the country’s supply.”