Across Asheville, anxious residents brace for impending arrival of Hurricane Helene
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- It's the calm before the storm but people in Biltmore Village are bracing for the worst.
"Well, you know, I'm kind of in a place of like shock and awe and also how do you protect," said David Ross, a Biltmore Village resident. "So, like I'm in that place of like trying to do the best you can."
When Ross saw the forecast -- with the river expected to crest -- he quickly got to work boarding up an Indian restaurant housed in his building and protecting what they could from inside by putting it in trucks.
Across western North Carolina, people anxiously prepared for the expected arrival of Helene, which Thursday night was menacing the Florida coast as a major Category 4 hurricane.
"I don't think people are aware of the magnitude of what's going to they say is going to happen," one person said.
Across Asheville, stores and shops were getting ready for the storm.
Susan May-West said she remembers how bad things got 20 years ago from a similar storm and wasn't taking any chances.
"We've got sandbags, tarps, silicone, you name it. We're doing everything we can because I was here in 2004, and I know what it looks like and it's going to be worse than that," said May-West, who owns Blue Goldsmiths in Asheville. "So, we're pretty prepared."
Stores weren't the only thing closing. Even the Blue Ridge Parkway was shut down.
Meanwhile, it's been a tough couple of days for Mac Parra. He had a tough time getting to Asheville from California in time for his sister's wedding this weekend.
"We circled Atlanta for an hour, hour and a half, and then got diverted to Birmingham, sat at the gate for a good two hours," Parra said.
After another two-hour delay and a shortage of Ubers in Asheville, he made it. Now he's trying to make the most of the weekend.
"That's what I'm trying to do. Yeah, Hopefully," Parra said. "Hopefully it won't be raining on Saturday.
Helene is forecasted to cause significant problems including flash flooding and landslides in portions of western North Carolina.
Buncombe County's emergency management leaders have been telling people who live down close to the river in the Biltmore Village area to self-evacuate.
Once things ramp up Friday, they said it could get to the point where water rescues may not be possible.
The North Carolina State Emergency Operations Center deployed 16 swift water rescue teams and added three additional swift water rescue teams from New York, Indiana and Illinois.
ABC11 was in Cary early Thursday as local emergency teams geared up to head to western North Carolina.
The Cary Swift Water team out of Station No. 7 loaded up several cars and trailers with boats attached.
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