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Community Colleges Spring Into Action in the Wake of Hurricane Helene

By Anthony Tringali, James Melton and Laura Dawson Ullrich
Community College Insights
January 16, 2025

Western North Carolina is no stranger to weather events. The region has braved heavy snow and rain, and it's used to the occasional flash flood. But a hurricane? In the mountains? That's exactly what happened in late September, with Hurricane Helene bringing unprecedented wind, rain, and flooding to the region, impacting communities from Florida to western Virginia. To complicate matters, North and South Carolina experienced a predecessor rain event, drenching the region in approximately 10 to 15 inches of rain before Helene arrived. Together, these two events caused widespread devastation, destruction and death. Western North Carolina took the hardest hit, and there were serious impacts to businesses and communities, including community colleges.

Figure 1: Rainfall Totals in SC, NC, and VA Depict Where the Storm Was Most Destructive

Map of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina showing the 3-day rainfall total for each county. Helene"s path is noted with a red line.

Note: Rainfall totals were taken between September 26–28.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, PRISM Climate Group, Tennessee Climate Office, ESRI, U.S. Geological Survey

Note

Mayland Community College (MCC)

  1. Primary Campus Location: Spruce Pine, North Carolina
  2. Enrollment: 863 (Fall 2023)
  3. Population in Service Area: 51,498

Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC)

  1. Primary Campus Location: Flat Rock, North Carolina
  2. Enrollment: 2,822 (Fall 2023)
  3. Population in Service Area: 152,779

Sources: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, U.S. Census Bureau

Community colleges, most notably in rural areas, play an important role in communities that goes beyond the provision of higher education. This "anchor institution" role is especially evident when communities face a crisis. While community colleges across the region were impacted directly and operations were complicated at an unprecedented level, they were also a critical part of the immediate recovery effort in the counties they serve.

Picking Up the Pieces After Helene

Each community college in the region serves a unique community, commonly known as a service area. Hurricane Helene brought a different degree of damage to different service areas, but accounts from two presidents, John Boyd, Ph.D., at Mayland Community College, or MCC, (serving Avery, Mitchell, and Yancy counties) and Laura Leatherwood, Ed.D., at Blue Ridge Community College, or BRCC, (serving Henderson and Transylvania counties), illustrate the tremendous challenges community colleges have had to overcome.

Figure 2: Areas Hardest Hit

Map of the fifth district showing which counties were FEMA designated for individual assistance after Hurricane Helene. The location of the two North Carolina community colleges that were interviewed, Mayland Community College and Blue Ridge Community College, are noted with stars.

Note: These counties were designated as eligible for individual assistance at the time of writing.
Sources: FEMA, U.S. Census Bureau

In the aftermath of the storms, the priority for community college leaders was reaching and connecting with students, faculty and staff. High winds and flooding damaged critical infrastructure, such as campus facilities, and left many residents without electricity or water. Residents also had no access to internet, landline, or cell phone service, making communication within and outside the region nearly impossible. Additionally, downed trees and dangerous flood waters made it very difficult to drive outside of the region to reach a cell signal.

In a digital age, loss of internet and cell phone connectivity amplified challenges. At BRCC, for example, where they have extensive plans for emergency events, they were unable to reach their business continuity plan or contact information for faculty and staff because both were stored in the cloud. To work around this, BRCC fanned out communications like a phone tree, which relies on people to pass along important messages to other people's numbers. As a result, community college leadership now have printed copies of important documents in addition to cloud storage.

Both BRCC and MCC had faculty and staff who lost homes and suffered other major losses, including the death of family and friends. Taking care of their people was the primary concern of community college presidents in the aftermath, which given the situation, was harder than they could have anticipated. Boyd of MCC noted, "If this had just been as simple as COVID...." Considering the incredible disruption COVID-19 caused higher education, this phrase exposes how difficult the situation must have been.

Unlike with COVID-19, however, a lack of internet access forced institutions to pause classes. Enrollment immediately declined, as some students knew they could no longer handle their school responsibilities this semester and withdrew their enrollment. For students who remained enrolled, colleges allowed for significant flexibility, even into December. The priority was clear: Institutions wanted to provide whatever supports were needed to help students master the content in their courses even if that looked a little (or a lot) different than "normal."

Once communication and transportation barriers eased, colleges shifted to operating as distribution centers for their students with food, water, blankets, and other necessities. At BRCC, for example, the administration set up an emergency fund for students to access money for food, gas, and other resources. In conjunction, colleges brought in mental health organizations to provide relief. MCC also provided considerable relief to their faculty, staff and students. Both Boyd and Leatherwood stressed the importance of their North Carolina Community College System partners in these efforts. The system, along with other schools from across the state, provided funds and supplies, and each of the impacted colleges were "adopted" by other unaffected colleges for additional support.

Anchoring the Community as It Rebuilds

In the wake of the hurricane, community colleges served their communities in numerous ways. They stepped up to serve as shelters, bases of operation for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), debris removal sites, and so much more, further underscoring their pivotal role as anchor institutions.

Community college students, faculty, and staff were thrust into action using valuable technical skills to work on power lines, repair plumbing and electrical issues, and provide support as emergency medical technicians. Additionally, at MCC, they provided all faculty and staff one workday each week to use as a volunteer day in response to their faculty and staff's desire to play an active role in recovery in their community.

Some schools became launching points for power companies and emergency responders. Many parking lots were used as temporary headquarters for FEMA representatives to begin recovery and restoration efforts. Shortly thereafter, the campuses transformed into makeshift cities by distributing food, water, and other support services to the broader community. For example, MCC used innovative solutions by purchasing and setting up Starlink, a satellite internet hot spot to restore internet communication for students, faculty and staff. This solution also made the service available to the community free of charge.

MCC also hosted a large community Christmas event with more than 3,000 people in attendance, providing an incredible number of gifts for local families. Meanwhile, BRCC kept their buildings open 24/7, so displaced community members could use their internet, shower, eat and sleep. During the cleanup stage, which is still ongoing, BRCC has offered their land as a space for debris overflow from the downed trees and houses. Because BRCC was able to get their campus infrastructure online faster than those closer to Asheville, they were eager to share their resources with higher education partners in the region. As a result, the University of North Carolina at Asheville hosted classes at BRCC until they were able to reopen.

The Road to Recovery Requires Sufficient Resources

The hurricane's destruction, which is now estimated at least $53 billion in North Carolina alone, led to people relocating and businesses closing, creating significant challenges for current and future community college enrollment. Some students, faculty, and staff were forced to relocate, as homes and businesses were destroyed. This was compounded by the fact that most of the damage in the region was caused by flooding and mud or landslides, which is generally not covered by homeowners' insurance. This ripple effect impacted both businesses and students, as the absence of local job opportunities encourages outmigration. The hope is that individuals return to the community, but this could take a very long time. Community college presidents believe it will take years to see a full recovery in student enrollment. To combat these challenges, the North Carolina General Assembly introduced free tuition initiatives and grants to stabilize enrollment, which had fallen by 20 percent at some colleges. MCC reported that this initiative has appeared to make a difference, but enrollment remains below pre-Helene levels.

It is important to note that there is not a direct source of funding for community colleges to access in times like these. North Carolina community colleges are funded in arrears, meaning that the money they receive during the 2024-2025 academic year is for the programs or students who enrolled during 2023-2024. In addition, colleges cannot roll over any operating fund balances at the end of a year, so they may not have rainy day funds for times like these. This is important to note because these efforts, while necessary and impressive, also come with added financial stress. This has been partially offset by some emergency grants and philanthropy, but community college presidents are also eagerly awaiting the news of additional funding from the state legislature. The rebuilding and recovery efforts will take a long time, and this will impact community college budgets in real ways.

When we consider the outsized physical and psychological support these institutions provide, combined with the increasing frequency of severe weather events, the funding of these colleges — from public and private sources — will be more important than ever before.


Views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond or the Federal Reserve System.

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