Women’s correctional facilities evacuate from Buncombe County due to lack of power and water

RALEIGH, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Approximately 400 offenders from western North Carolina correctional facilities were evacuated Monday, the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections reports.

They were removed from the Western Correctional Center for Women in Swannanoa and the Black Mountain Substance Abuse Treatment Center for Women in Black Mountain, both just east of Asheville. It comes after the expected long timeframe for water and power restoration to these locations after the region was ravaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene.

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NCDAC reported that buses arrived Monday morning, and all offenders were successfully transported to other correctional facilities for women by early evening.

"All offenders are safe, and NCDAC is taking appropriate steps to ensure continued health and safety of staff and offenders," the department said.

Relocated offenders will be able to make phone calls after they arrive at their destinations. Family and friends of offenders are asked not to call the prisons to check on a loved one.

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Some of the 360 minimum-custody offenders at WCCW moved to Anson Correctional Institution in Polkton, and others moved to North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh.

The 45 offenders receiving in-patient alcohol and drug treatment at the Black Mountain treatment center were taken to the North Piedmont Confinement in Response to Violation facility in Lexington.

The online Offender Locator will be updated within 24 hours to indicate where individual offenders are temporarily rehoused.

The duration of the relocations will depend on the time required to restore water and power.