When North Carolina’s auditor released a report criticizing state spending on a station offering showers and laundry in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, organizers on the ground balked at the implication that it should have been removed sooner. Instead, they say there is still a need in the Swannanoa Valley, where some residents remain in temporary housing without running water or access to a consistent food source.
“There’s still a very visible impact in a lot of parts of Swannanoa, where you can see destruction, destroyed buildings and rubble, and where you can see people living in temporary structures,” says Beth Trigg, co-founder of Swannanoa Communities Together (SCT), a nonprofit that formed to provide recovery assistance to storm victims.
Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek’s report, released June 4, details the costs of establishing and running a community comfort station at Buncombe County’s Owen Pool complex in Swannanoa for 189 days. In the report, the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) suggests that state and local officials should have reviewed its cost, use and need more frequently. OSA found the comfort station cost $27.4 million, an average of more than $145,000 per day. The site — which closed May 1 — provided showers, laundry, bathrooms, access to cell towers and Wi-Fi, potable and nonpotable water and counseling services.
“In the middle of a disaster, providing a warm shower, laundry facilities to wash clothes and a place to rest is responsive to the public need,” noted Boliek in an OSA press release accompanying the report. “That said, the government must always be cognizant of costs and routinely assess if we are making the most out of tax dollars.”…