ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper gave an interview with Melanie Wilkinson on Mix 96.5 this morning, Wednesday, Oct. 9, updating listeners on the region and singling community volunteers out for praise.

In the seven minute interview, which can be heard in full below, Cooper explained what the state effort to aid hurricane-affected North Carolinians has looked like.

“We’ve been so far to 10 counties. I’ve visited in 15 communities. Today, I’m working with the state legislature to pass relief, at least the initial relief, for Western North Carolina,” Cooper said. “I’m gonna go back to some of the areas I visited because some of them are really hard hit.”

One of those areas is Buncombe-adjacent Madison County, which Cooper planned on visiting next.

Cooper was impressed with the way Western North Carolina has rebounded.

“Western North Carolina is pulling together unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We’ve already seen a lot of progress. We started with a million power outages; we’re down to about 94 thousand now,” Cooper said. “We’ve got 53 water systems back to normal, 28 of them partially back to normal. We still have work to do on a lot more.”

Other statistics Cooper mentioned:

  • 126 thousand people have been registered for disaster relief funds by FEMA
  • $40 million has already been issued by the agency
  • 2,500 people are supported in FEMA-funded hotels
  • Every hospital in W.N.C. is back up and running

Wilkinson asked Cooper if he had a story to tell that represented the resilience in W.N.C. he was praising. Cooper immediately recalled a story from Black Mountain, N.C.

“Early on, I was in Black Mountain and went over to The Monte Vista Hotel. Two young women and a manager, even without power, it’s dark in there, they commissioned the hotel to become a feeding place for the community and a place for supplies,” Cooper said. “We know how badly the Black Mountain area was hit. I talked to so many people who were grateful for their work.”

Cooper said he has seen the number of volunteers only continue to grow. He shared anecdotes about heroic people jumping into rushing floodwater to save others and an emergency responder pulling someone through a kitchen window to rescue them.

“It’s amazing the courage, determination and compassion that you see in Western North Carolina,” Cooper said. “I told my wife when I got home one night, I said, ‘If you ever doubt the goodness of humanity, go and spend a day in Western North Carolina during this disaster right now. You’ll get it back in a hurry.'”

Cooper also had a piece of advice for the mountain people of W.N.C.

“My advice would be to stick to it, to help your neighbors, but to work to recovery and to be smart about rebuilding,” Cooper said. “To make sure we know what water can do so we’re more ready for it next time. But I’d say don’t go anywhere, because Western North Carolina is gonna come back stronger than ever.”

According to the governor, the region is integral to the state, and it was his number one priority. Cooper summed up his feelings about the importance of W.N.C. with a poetic observation.

“These mountains stay in your soul when you’re there,” Cooper said.