After hurricane, with no running water, residents organize to meet a basic need
It takes water to flush a toilet yet tens of thousands of North Carolinians have been without it since Hurricane Helene ripped through the state three weeks ago
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — It takes water to flush a toilet and tens of thousands of North Carolinians have been without it since Hurricane Helene ripped through the state three weeks ago. When Lark Frazier went around asking her Asheville neighbors how they were doing as far as water to flush, several burst into tears over the stress of where to go to the bathroom and what to do with the waste.
Some told her they were eating less to avoid going. Others said they were dumping poop in the yard and covering it with leaves. An elderly woman mentioned planning to scoop it out of the toilet with her hands.
“Not only is that horrifying and inhumane but it's dangerous for her to be handling her waste like that,” Frazier said.
Since Helene swallowed mountain towns, damaged water infrastructure and killed nearly 250 people across the Southeast, local governments have been overwhelmed, and that's spurred community organizing and innovation.
