In hard-hit Yancey County, hundreds of first responders from the local, state and federal levels have been deployed to help with Hurricane Helene recovery. Many have put their lives on hold, and they have a new home away from home deep in the North Carolina mountains.
Chief Tracy Winecoff is working on the incident management team, and he says important resources have now been brought in for the responders.
In a field in Burnsville, you’ll see rows and rows of white trailers providing a place to sleep, eat and shower for 500 first responders. There are about 500 crewmembers between all of the agencies who will spend the night there.
Inside the main tent, crews can eat hot meals and receive mental health resources.
“We’ve had chaplains on site, mental health professionals on site each morning as we’ve sat here and kind of debriefed and had breakfast,” Winecoff told Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz.
Winecoff said a main part of his job is to make sure the people taking care of you are taken care of themselves.