Tropical Storm Helene generated large amounts storm debris within Asheville’s city limits. The City of Asheville activated state contracts to engage a debris contractor and a debris monitoring firm to begin clearing storm debris from public rights-of-way (ROW). This initial effort prioritized critical infrastructure and roadways, ensuring accessibility and public safety. The City’s contracted firm began ROW debris removal on October 10, 2024, collecting 19,409 cubic yards of debris in the first 17 days of operations.
Recognizing the scale and complexity of debris removal required, the City partnered with Hagerty Consulting, LLC to assess the full scope of the operation. It was determined that the most effective path forward would be to transition management to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under Direct Federal Assistance (DFA).
Efforts are now focused on the following areas:
- ROW debris removal (State, City, and private roads – Vegetative & C&D)
- Private and commercial property debris removal (PPDR & CPDR)
- Waterway debris cleanup
- Public facilities and parks debris removal
- Vehicles and vessels recovery
City staff continue to prioritize debris removal requests from residents and businesses where storm debris is impeding emergency access or posing safety concerns. If you feel your storm debris poses a safety concern please email sanitation@ashevillenc.gov.
The City of Asheville is committed to providing transparent and consistent information to residents about storm debris removal efforts. The Asheville Recovers engagement hub serves as a centralized resource for residents to access detailed information, reflecting the City’s dedication to keeping the community informed and involved throughout the recovery process.
Happening Now
To provide greater transparency into Asheville’s ongoing recovery, the City has launched a Storm Debris Dashboard that is available by visiting the storm debris page on the Asheville Recovers website. This tool will provide debris collection totals and progress updates with data being updated every Monday.
The new dashboard provides the following data for debris:
- Total cubic yards collected,
- Total cubic yards collected from right-of-way,
- Total cubic yards collected from waterways,
- Total tons of mud/silt collected,
- Total private properties approved for the PPDR program, and
- Total private properties completed.
As part of this launch, the community may notice a transition in how the City presents the data. The previous 3 million cubic yard “progress meter” will shift to simply displaying the total volume of debris collected. This adjustment reflects the evolving understanding of storm debris quantities and ensures the public has the most accurate and relevant information.
Understanding the 3 million cubic yard estimate
Following Tropical Storm Helene, it was estimated by a contractor that storm debris could total up to 3 million cubic yards. As debris removal efforts continue, the City now anticipates that the initial report overestimated the debris that would be collected by public entities.
- There are a few key factors that may have resulted in the overestimation: Immediately after the storm, officials relied on aerial assessments and on-the-ground observations to estimate the scale of debris. These preliminary numbers were intended to guide response efforts, not as a precise measure of final totals.
- Not all debris is being tracked in cubic yards. Some materials—such as vehicles and mud/silt—are tracked as individual units or tons.
- Private contractor cleanup is not included in the totals we have collected from contractors. Many property owners, neighborhoods, and businesses hired private contractors for debris removal. Since this debris was not collected by debris contractors working with the City of Asheville, it is not included in the official total.
Debris removal operations are ongoing, with crews working diligently to collect and dispose of all storm debris left within the city limits. Residents with remaining storm debris are encouraged to apply for the Private Property Debris Removal program by April 15.