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By Sophie Clark
Live News Reporter
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Thousands of people in North Carolina prisons have been evacuated and relocated across the state following Hurricane Helene.
The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC) announced on October 2 that they were moving more than 800 offenders from two prisons in western North Carolina due to the storm's impact, bringing the total to over 2,000 people evacuated from five prisons.
This included 405 women on Monday, 841 men on Tuesday, and 805 men on Wednesday, according to a statement from NCDAC.
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"As with other recent evacuations, the action was necessary due to long timeframes for expected restoration of water and power service," it said.
Keith Acree, communications director at the NCDAC, told *Newsweek: "*Our prisons were not flooded or damaged by the storm, but the water and electrical utilities that serve the prisons and the communities around them were severely damaged and there's a long timeframe for restoration.
"The primary considerations for returning to those prisons would be restoration of water and power. In some cases water restoration is projected to take weeks or months."
Acree added: "We transferred about 2,100 people over three days. When it became apparent that power and water outages would be very long-term, we made the decision to move.
"We knew we could not continue on generator power and bottled water for an extended period. Moving large numbers of people out on many buses over mountain roads in a disaster area took a great deal of time and caution."
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Western North Carolina has been rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the 14th most powerful storm to ever hit the United States. North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and Alabama have all been declared disaster zones.
President Biden mobilized 1,000 active duty soldiers across all affected states on October 2 to help with response efforts such as transporting people over damaged terrain, providing fuel and water, and assisting the other troops on the ground activated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) who are providing aid.
North Carolina also has 700 members of the national guard on the ground removing debris, providing airlifts, and conducting search and rescue operations.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said in a press release on October 1: "As emergency responders continue search and rescue operations in Western North Carolina, local, state, federal, private and non-profit partners continue to work in concert to provide food, water, shelter and other basic necessities for people in need.
"Simultaneously, thousands of private sector and government employees are working 24/7 to restore critical infrastructure including power, water, wastewater treatment, cellular phone service and internet connectivity."
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In North Carolina, loved ones of inmates relocated due to the storm have been asked by the state not to call to check up on their friends and family behind bars, as communication outages throughout the western part of the state mean that phone lines must be clear for emergencies only.
They can, however, use NCDAC's Offender Locator to find out where they have been moved to.
Per NCDAC's website, all offenders will be returned to their original location as soon as it is safe.
Per the North Carolina state website, search and rescue operations are still ongoing.
To report a missing person or request non-emergency support, please call NC 211 or 1-888-892-1162 if calling from out-of-state.
Anyone who has been impacted by the storm and or needs someone to talk to, can call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990.
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Update 10/04/24, 3:59 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the NCDAC.
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