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.
For more updates on Asheville’s recovery efforts, visit Asheville Recovers.