Families of North Carolina Inmates Claim They Were Forced to Defecate in Plastic Bags and Went Without Water During Hurricane Helene

Last week, inmates at the Mountain View Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, were awakened to find that their cells were flooding due to Hurricane Helene’s harsh rains across western areas of the state.

For the next five days, more than 500 inmates lived in inhumane prison conditions, without lights, running water, or communication with the outside world. While the impact of Hurricane Helene was intense for most, the incarcerated men’s experience was much worse. In fact, the storm turned the prison into a health hazard. According to the family members of the prisoners, the men were left trapped in their cells with filth and foul odor with no relief. With the power and water being out, the prison’s functioning system was crippled as inmates were forced to defecate in plastic bags that were stored inside their cells.

“My husband told me this morning he’s going to have to see a therapist because of what happened in there,” Bridget Gentry, whose husband is incarcerated at Mountain View, said. “He said, ‘We thought we were going to die there. We didn’t think anybody was going to come back for us.’”

Additionally, the family claims that breakfast for the inmates consisted of four crackers and a cup of juice, while dinner was two pieces of bread and peanut butter. They also stated that portable water wasn’t made available for days.

However, Keith Acree, head of communications at the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC), addressed the situation but downplayed its severity. He confirmed that “some offenders did defecate in plastic bags,” but the plan was created by the inmates. Acree also stated that the prison “did not run out of food or water,” adding that bottled water and buckets were provided.

To make things worse, less than a mile down the road from Mountain View, Avery-Mitchell Correctional Institution experienced a similar situation. Over 800 inmates were hit with flooding and water outages before being evacuated on October 1st.  Nonetheless, the NCDAC maintained that they reacted quickly and highlighted that the surrounding communities were left in worse conditions.

“The populations of the two Spruce Pine prisons are extremely fortunate to now be relocated and safe,” Acree said. “That’s so much more than many others in western NC have right now.”