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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsAfter Hurricane Helene disrupted power, water, communications, and road access around Asheville, local people drew on radio skills, available equipment, and neighborhood ties to restore pieces of essential service. Make: reported two examples—an amateur-radio communications relay and improvised community showers and water support—that were later presented at Maker Faire Asheville 2025. They show practical local problem-solving, not a complete operational evaluation or a universal emergency-response plan.
What the Maker Faire presentation set out to share
Maker Faire Asheville’s fifth event took place on April 5, 2025. In a feature published April 5 and updated April 11, Make: writer Jennifer Blakeslee described organizers’ aim of sharing the resilience they had witnessed after Helene. The presentation, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention,” was listed in the Maker Faire Yearbook with Land of Sky Regional Council as presenter.
The stories centered on Ian Baille, a regional planner and amateur-radio enthusiast, and Ben Hanna, a maker who adapted materials already at hand. Their responses addressed different needs, but shared a practical approach: use local knowledge and available resources, then work with other people and organizations. Read Make:’s account of the response and see the Maker Faire Yearbook project listing.
How local radio helped pass information
With ordinary power and communications systems disrupted, Baille helped set up an unofficial communications relay. Using available shortwave radio contacts, he relayed requests for assistance and passed information to families outside the region, where cell service was limited. Regional amateur-radio clubs at Mount Mitchell amplified the effort, according to Make:.
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This was a community relay account, not a claim that radio alone restored regional communications. Its practical lesson is narrower: a communications skill and an existing network of radio operators can matter when familiar channels are constrained. The feature also quotes Vicki Barnes of Project Helene describing the value of stepping in during a crisis without formal training; it says Project Helene offers amateur-radio training.
How mobile power supported charging and communications
Baille also worked with Footprint Project to source batteries, deliver mobile charging stations, and establish community power depots using mobile battery units. Make: describes repurposed commercial solar equipment and notes that stored energy was a key issue for community power systems. Charging support mattered not only for phones and communications, but also for people who needed electricity for medical devices.
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The account describes equipment and collaboration, not measured capacity, duration, or the number of people served. It does not identify a consumer product model or provide a performance comparison. The useful point is that power depended on more than generation: storing energy and getting mobile units where people could use them were part of the response.
How on-hand materials became neighborhood water services
Hanna assembled a neighborhood shower from materials already available: an approximately 300-gallon water cube and a solar-battery-powered on-demand hot-water heater. He built a second unit and later helped provide mobile community showers and water trailers. Make: reports that FEMA and other agencies trucked water into the area.
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The feature also says shower wastewater was reused to flush toilets, and that Hanna worked with groups on dry-toilet workshops using five-gallon buckets and sawdust. These are reported emergency improvisations, not sanitation specifications. Safe water use, wastewater handling, and toilet design depend on local conditions and public-health guidance; the account does not provide instructions for reproducing these systems.
What connects the examples—and what they do not prove
The response stories address communications, electricity, water, and sanitation through different combinations of local skills, materials, and partnerships. Radio contacts and mobile power supported communication; batteries and charging stations addressed electricity needs; improvised showers and water services responded to basic household needs. Some efforts served shared neighborhood use rather than a single household.
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Make: does not report named outcome statistics, such as the number of people served, costs avoided, or measured effects on response times. The examples therefore illustrate ways people adapted during a disaster, rather than establishing which approach performed best or what every community should build. As Maker Faire Asheville producer and maker educator Christa Flores put it in the feature, “We’re still cleaning up.”
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The feature’s questions are useful starting points for household and neighborhood conversations: “What would you do if the lights went out…for a month”; “How bad will it be? Where will you go? What do you need? Who are you prepping for?” They point beyond equipment to the people, skills, and relationships a response depends on.
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- Identify essential needs: Consider how your household would handle communication, charging, water, sanitation, and medical-device power if normal services were disrupted.
- Know your local connections: Learn which community organizations, trained volunteers, and neighbors can help, and what support they may need.
- Build skills before a crisis: The City of Asheville’s CERT program page describes all-hazards volunteer training in fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. The City’s page reported a program launch in spring 2026; check the City of Asheville CERT page for current details.
- Prepare basic household supplies: A City of Asheville preparedness article recommends connecting with neighbors and preparing an emergency kit, with items including water, a flashlight, batteries, a blanket, medicine, and utensils. See the City’s emergency-preparedness article.
The Maker Faire account offers no substitute for official guidance or emergency services. Its contribution is a record of how local knowledge, existing materials, and collaboration helped people meet immediate needs while a community was still recovering.
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