1 week ago
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In a time of devastation and loss, some people in Asheville, North Carolina are turning to the public library for comfort and communication. Cell services have created a communications blackout in much of the state, but Asheville’s downtown library is offering something incredible: free wifi.
Asheville was one of the cities hardest hit by Helene. The extreme rainfall in the western part of North Carolina caused muddy flood waters to pour across the state’s roadways and infrastructure. Many bridges in the mountainous region are either impassable or destroyed. People’s homes are underwater, more than 60 are still missing, and the destruction of cell towers knocked many phones offline.
“We have biblical devastation through the county,” Ryan Cole—the assistant emergency services director of Buncombe County, which includes Asheville—told the Washington Post. “We have biblical flooding here.”
On Sunday and Monday, people gathered in public spaces and began to help each other and a beacon of hope came from the Pack Memorial Library in downtown Asheville. “The only available wifi in #Asheville is at the public library downtown. Here’s a look at images taken by our photojournalist Maurice Griffin,” Vernon Turner, a meteorologist for Spectrum 1 in North Carolina said on X.
The only available wifi in #Asheville is at the public library downtown. Here's a look at images taken by our photojournalist Maurice Griffin. pic.twitter.com/GtiQCJvlkk
— Meteorologist Vernon Turner (@WeathermanVern) September 29, 2024
On Monday morning, area resident Dan Salmon posted an update for his friends and family on Facebook using the library’s internet. “MONDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 30, SITTING ON THE PAVEMENT OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE LIBRARY,” he said in the post.
“So first, despite no power, cell service, water, or electricity for the past several days, folks in Asheville are really amazing and pulling through,” Salmon said. Then he detailed the ways in which he’s seen his community pull together and help one another in this time of trouble.
“I’m sitting on the ground outside the downtown public library, where they’re making Wifi available,” he said. “We just [got] back from an outing at Harris Teeter supermarket, (the line is about an hour to get in) where they’re giving away free water. Whole Foods down the street is giving away water as well, and today it looks like the first-day trucks are coming in with more food. It’s reported that gas stations are expected to open once we get power back in a week or so.”
In other parts of Asheville, Starlink terminals are helping people stay connected. Local journalists at CBS17 reported that residents have set up Starlink terminals at a school auditorium, a DoubleTree Hilton. They’re even using a Starlink at a retirement community in a neighboring county. Fire stations in the area have also set up Compact Rapid Deployable cell towers attached to generators that are helping people get online and speak to distant family members.
Local journalist Jessica Wakerman noted the wifi service in a post on X but reminded everyone that many people can’t make it downtown. “The City of Asheville or Buncombe County coordinated with a phone provider to provide WiFi access downtown by the courthouse,” she said. “While I’m grateful that exists for downtown folks, it doesn’t help those of us who would need to drive to get there.”
The City of Asheville or Buncombe County coordinated with a phone provider to provide WiFi access downtown by the courthouse.
While I’m grateful that exists for downtown folks, it doesn’t help those of us who would need to drive to get there.
— Jessica Wakeman (@JessicaWakeman) September 30, 2024
