Some people incarcerated in Western North Carolina have been evacuated to different facilities this week after Tropical Storm Helene wreaked havoc in the mountains causing whole communities to be swallowed by raging floodwaters and isolated due to washed away or debris-filled roads.
The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections announced that another 800 people who were incarcerated at the Mountain View Correctional Institute in Spruce Pine and from Craggy Correctional Center in Asheville were evacuated from the facilities on Wednesday. The men at both correctional facilities were sent to other locations in the state.
“All offenders are safe, and NCDAC is taking appropriate steps to ensure continued health and safety of all staff and offenders,” read a release from the state. “Relocated offenders can make phone calls after they arrive at their destinations. Family and friends are asked not to call the prisons to check on a loved one.”
Adult corrections have evacuated more than 2,000 people from five different facilities in the western part of the state this week due to the lack of water and power in the area.