Franklin County authorities gather relief supplies for Helene victims

Law enforcement in Franklin County has helped deliver more than 500,000 lbs of resources for people affected by flooding in the western part of the state.

2024-10-02

Franklin County Sheriff Kevin White announced his office’s achievement Wednesday during a press conference with Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who has used his state office, gubernatorial campaign and social media platforms to raise awareness about the group’s efforts.

Robinson, a Republican, is running for governor against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. Both turned their attention to western North Carolina after tropical storm Helene caused flooding in mountain communities from Boone to Asheville.

While Stein is focused on snuffing out price gouging, Robinson partnered with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in hopes their efforts could help people still waiting on assistance.

The lieutenant governor’s office encouraged people to take donations of food and bottled water to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at 285 T. Kemp Rd in Louisburg.

“This the time to get stuff done, and I'm glad that I live in a state where we have people that are doing just that,” Robinson said during Wednesday’s press conference. “Our office has been inundated with folks calling from all over the state, all over the nation, quite frankly, to bring in the necessary supplies to get things immediately going in the state.”

White said he started working with Robinson on Saturday morning to collect resources for western North Carolina. By midnight Tuesday, White said they had received donations from 13 states and delivered more than 500,000 lbs of resources to western North Carolina.

“In total, we have executed roughly three dozen missions via air,” White said.

“We are currently running missions in and out of both Ashe and Watauga County,” he added. “We will continue to explore other Western county landing strips as recovery efforts continue.”

Deputies have aimed to address needs that other organizations can’t, White said.

“Yesterday, we carried socks and underwear to a fire chief in western North Carolina who said, ‘Hey, we need to work, but we need socks on our feet and underwear to do that,’” White said. “So we had a couple of deputies that specifically went there for a specific need.”