Asheville Regional Reflects About Surviving Hurricane Helene

Last fall, a catastrophic hurricane hit Western North Carolina. Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) had weathered bad storms countless times before. However, the 48 hours from Sept. 25 to 27 proved to be notably different for President and Chief Executive Officer Lew Bleiweis and his team.

At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, Hurricane Helene was at Category 1 strength, and its center was just north of Cancun, Mexico. By then, AVL had already completed its usual pre-storm checklist. While the storm brewed, crews checked to make sure culverts, inlets and outtakes on airport property were clear. Sandbags were placed in areas that frequently flooded. Generators were on standby, and there was plenty of diesel fuel in the event of a power outage.

In addition, contractors working on AVL’s new $400 million terminal (the first phase of which will open this summer) battened down the site to protect it from high winds that were predicted.

Per the airport’s standard pre-storm procedure, staff coordinated with airline representatives regarding operations and contingency plans.

“We were ready,” recalls Chief Operating Officer Lexie Farmer, who had previously worked at four other airports but was only three months into her role at AVL when the history-making hurricane descended.

Downpour Followed by Destruction

According to the National Weather Service, 17.31 inches of rain fell in Asheville from Sept. 25 to 27, and higher amounts fell around the region. Asheville’s previous record for the entire month of September was 13.71 inches in 2004. Compounding matters, Helene hit after the area had already experienced an extremely wet stretch of weather.

Two rivers that run through Asheville broke 230-year records for flooding during Helene. The French Broad, which usually crests around 1½ feet, reached 24.6 feet during the storm. The Swannanoa went from a crest of around 1½ feet to 26.1 feet, a height not reached since 1791.

The airport grounds flooded at the southwest and north perimeters, but the terminal, which sits at the highest point of the property, was not impacted by the high river levels.

Helene was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall on Thursday, Sept. 26, south of Tallahassee, FL. It was downgraded to a tropical storm as it swept north, but high winds and heavy rain persisted.

All but essential airport staffers were sent home Thursday afternoon. On Friday morning, the airport, along with most of the city and surrounding region, lost its power, internet service, phone lines and cellphone service.

“Everything that was necessary went to generators: our public safety building, our maintenance building, the terminal building and airfield lighting,” recalls Farmer. “The biggest issue was communications was out.” Power would not be restored until Monday afternoon, more than 72 hours later.

A few commercial flights were able to depart AVL early Friday before power and internet outages occurred.

Bleiweis was unable to get to the airport at all on Friday because roads were closed throughout the county. That proved to be a blessing in one regard, as he had better internet connectivity and cellular service than the airport, so he was able to communicate with Farmer and a handful of other key staffers.

One bright spot was that the airport kept its water service. While much of Buncombe County lost water service until mid-October (and it was mid-November before potable water returned), the airport is served by the city of Asheville Mills River water plant, which remained operational during and after the storm. The airport lost potable water for a stretch, but was spared lengthy water outages.

By Saturday morning, airport crews began post-storm damage assessment. “We had redundancies in place, but the redundancies failed,” Bleiweis explains, noting that neither of the airport’s two internet services worked.

Without reliable internet or cell service, airlines could not process flights or passengers. About 100 passengers were stranded at the airport. By Sunday, airport and airlines staff were trying to get some passengers to Charlotte by bus, but many roads in and out of Asheville were still unpassable.

A Flood of Traffic

It wasn’t until Monday—three days after the last pre-storm commercial flight departed—that commercial service was restored. Despite the cessation of airline flights, the airfield was inundated with traffic. Private aircraft started arriving in droves by Saturday morning to deliver emergency supplies such as potable water, food and more.

“It was mostly people acting out of goodwill,” Farmer explains. “It was not directed by any agency or municipal/federal response to deliver supplies to the airport.”

Because the air traffic control tower was out of service, all aircraft flying under instrument flight rules had to be sequenced in and out of AVL through Atlanta Center. Anything below 200 feet operated under visual flight rules. Switching instrument flights was a familiar procedure because the air traffic control tower at AVL does not operate 24/7 under normal conditions and transfers over to Atlanta Center daily when it is not in operation. The airport tower frequency is converted to a common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF).

An FAA technical support team was able to restore the AVL air traffic control tower service using generator power and backup contingencies by Sunday.

The airport did, however, have to halt general aviation traffic one afternoon because the general aviation ramp had become gridlocked.

Also on Saturday, aircraft from the U.S. Army, Navy and Air National Guard began arriving. They brought fuel and other supplies for ground teams to conduct search and rescue operations because many highways and secondary roads were unusable due to heavy rain and fallen trees. “When you start losing roads, air connectivity becomes the lifeline of these communities,” Bleiweis says.

To the airport team’s surprise, large tractor-trailers started arriving at AVL on Saturday and Sunday with multiple pallets of water, ready-to-eat meals and other emergency supplies. They were delivered at the behest of North Carolina Emergency Management Services and Buncombe County Emergency Services Command.

Bleiweis says one lesson his team has taken away from the Helene experience is to increase communication and formalize plans with city, county and other officials ahead of severe storms. “More coordination is better,” he relates. “These other agencies would have a better understanding of what the airport can provide during emergencies.”

Pivoting to an Emergency Resources Role

On Sunday, a small portion of AVL’s general aviation ramp was designated to serve as an emergency logistics hub. By Monday, it became clear that space was not sufficient.

Close to 100 military personnel worked (and set up temporary living quarters) at the airport. Airlifts were performed with Chinook, Blackhawk and CH53 helicopters delivering food, generators, fuel and heaters to 43 landing zones within Western North Carolina. Some supplies were delivered by large C-17 cargo planes.

Airport staffers worked with the North Carolina Air National Guard to get a waiver for the large C-17s to operate on the airfield, which is not rated for airplanes that heavy. Because they were too large for any of AVL’s aprons, they were parked on a taxiway adjacent to the makeshift military zone.

“We coordinated with air traffic control to close that taxiway for this operation,” Farmer notes. “In addition, we had to work with the TSA to ensure that the operation was in compliance with our Airport Security Program. This required us to perform additional escorting and monitoring.”

Air traffic controllers at the airport typically handle about 300 operations per day. In the 10 days following the storm, the airport averaged over 900 per day, the most in its history.

Committed to serving the community, several AVL staffers stayed around-the-clock that first weekend, even though many were unaware of how their own families were faring.

It was important to spread the message quickly that the airport was operating as a distribution hub for emergency workers, and individuals should not try to come pick up supplies on their own. But that was difficult with internet and cell service severely hampered.

“Communicating with the community was a huge challenge,” recalls Tina Kinsey, the airport’s chief administrative officer. “Some people could get a bit of cell service; some could access Facebook. I found a small area one mile from my house where I could access cell service and post to the airport’s Facebook page from there. For days, that’s how we got information out.”

Before the storm, the airport had built the framework for a “dark website,” which Kinsey describes as a site stripped of promotional information, with crucial emergency information on the home page. Once staff was able to access the site’s content management system several days after the storm, it was an easier process to tear down the traditional website home page and replace it with the dark website content. This was the first time AVL had used the dark website.

On Sunday, Buncombe County in partnership with Verizon Wireless Crisis Response Team delivered a Starlink internet unit to the airport. By Monday morning, it was operational and providing connectivity to the passenger processing systems and a handful of other critical systems. Importantly, this allowed airlines to resume flight operations.

Airport authorities subsequently approved the purchase of equipment to improve communications, including satellite phones, additional radios and charging banks, UHF/VHF antenna upgrades (to enhance radio coverage), Starlink satellite units and a Plum Case high-speed cellular internet/voice communication kit.

Torrential rain caused flooding that broke 230-year records.

Assistance from Neighboring Airports

Farmer says it became apparent by the end of the first weekend that even with the AVL team’s commitment to its rapidly evolving emergency services role, outside assistance was needed to sustain airport operations and to support the military. On Monday, requests for backup were issued to commercial airports in North Carolina and the Southeast Airports Disaster Operations Group (SEADOG), an informal collection of airports that band together to provide operational assistance to other airports hit by natural disasters.

By late Monday, the first support teams arrived from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), which is about two hours southeast of Asheville. That team included a former U.S. Army sergeant with a logistics background. “He helped us walk through the organization of it all and make recommendations to the Army National Guard on how to set up,” Farmer says.

Over the next two weeks, 83 workers from eight airports traveled to Asheville to support the AVL team. Their work included law enforcement, firefighting, maintenance, custodial services, communications, airport operations, emergency management and logistics.

All the airlines that serve AVL also sent supplies for their employees. In South Carolina, the Charleston convention and visitors’ bureau partnered with Charleston Airport and Breeze Airways to charter an aircraft that delivered food and supplies for AVL workers. Sun Country Airlines sent a plane loaded with supplies as well.

Many airport employees worked around the clock after the storm.

In addition to the 100 passengers who were stranded over the weekend at the airport, about 50 additional people sought shelter there because nearby evacuation shelters were full. The airport’s concessionaire, Paradies Lagardère, provided free meals for those stranded at the airport and employees who were working through the weekend. Avis Rental Car offered access to its fuel so airport vehicles could operate while fuel delivery wasn’t possible.

Checking On Airport Staffers

Another immediate concern for AVL management was determining the status of approximately 100 airport employees. However, it was nearly impossible to reach those who were not already working onsite. What’s more, their contact information was stored electronically and not accessible. The airport’s human resources team set up quarters at a hotel outside Buncombe County and began reaching out to all employees. It wasn’t until several days after the storm that they were able to confirm the safety of all staff members.

The mental health of residents throughout Western North Carolina was a primary concern well after the storm, as water service remained out for weeks and many were without power for that long as well. Airport personnel were asked to complete a single check-in session with professional counselors provided by AVL, and additional counseling was available on request.

“Our guest services team members were dealing with a lot of passengers and others who wanted to relive the experience. It was taking a toll on them [the employees],” Kinsey relates. “Everybody was a victim in this storm. We were not just being empathetic and listening to somebody else’s crisis. It was a crisis for all of us.”

Post-Disaster Assessment

The military stayed on site at the airport until Oct. 21, nearly a month after the storm. Several weeks after the hurricane, as the airport returned to normal operations, an assessment of the response from all those involved was initiated. AVL leadership continues to review how various teams responded to the crisis and is pulling together lessons that can prepare airport personnel and partners for future emergencies.

Areas of focus include:

• The airport’s dependency on internet and cellphones, and what alternatives exist
• Logistics for mutual aid response and how to improve the process
• Ensuring that the airport maintains FAA and TSA compliance standards
• Knowing the true capacity for ground operations
• Potable water for passengers and employees; food and lodging

“Bits and pieces of everything you learn and train for are helpful,” Farmer reflects. “I had been through Hurricane Florence in 2018 while working at Charlotte. I’ve been through an aircraft crash with fatalities. All of those things and all of the training you get kick in and help you think about what you need to do.”

Since the storm, Farmer has made presentations about the airport’s response and lessons learned to the AVL board of directors, SEADOG and other aviation groups. Kinsey spoke on the airport’s response and the actions taken for its employees at a customer experience symposium earlier this year sponsored by the American Association of Airport Executives and Airports Council International North America.

Farmer intends to create an after-action review to help the airport and industry peers learn important lessons from this crisis. However, it will have to wait until after the completion of AVL’s new terminal, which will be 1½ times larger than the existing facility.

The military airlifted emergency supplies from the airport to areas ravaged by the storm.

To be sure, Hurricane Helene decimated the picturesque Western North Carolina region. Traffic at AVL the month after the storm—traditionally the area’s busiest season for tourism—dropped by 50%. But Bleiweis is confident tourists will return quickly.

Recent growth supports his optimism. The airport hit the momentous 1 million-passenger milestone in 2018, and then surpassed 2 million annual passengers just five years later. An expansion program is currently underway to accommodate the 4 million passengers per year forecasted by 2045. In addition to a larger terminal with five more gates (bringing the airport’s total to 12), projects include a new air traffic control tower and 600 additional parking spaces.

Based on all the construction, it seems Hurricane Helene is largely history for AVL. Its focus is on the future.