North Carolina struggles to recover from devastating Storm Helene

The town of Weaverville, North Carolina, is grappling with dire conditions in the aftermath of Storm Helene, which struck the southeastern United States last week.

Residents have faced widespread devastation, including extensive flooding, power outages, and a severe shortage of safe drinking water. “Only one grocery store was operational, utility poles had gone down, and the town’s water plant had flooded,” local resident Fitzsimmons told the BBC. “People have been without safe drinking water for four days.”

As the scale of destruction becomes clearer, Buncombe County, which includes Weaverville, reports at least 35 fatalities, with 600 individuals still unaccounted for. In response to the growing crisis, officials established a website for concerned family members to inquire about missing persons, receiving an overwhelming 11,000 requests so far.

Storm Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane before wreaking havoc across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The storm has been linked to at least 116 deaths nationwide, with officials warning that the toll may rise as rescue and recovery efforts continue.

One poignant story comes from Madison Shaw, a resident of Anderson, South Carolina, who shared her heartbreak over the loss of her mother. “Her last words to me were… ‘I love you, be safe. I’ll see you later,’” Shaw recounted to CBS News. “I can’t even describe it. My mom was my best friend.”

The storm’s impact is felt most acutely in North Carolina, where Governor Roy Cooper stated that entire communities had been “wiped off the map.” In Buncombe County, which encompasses the vibrant city of Asheville, floodwaters have inundated streets, forcing residents to evacuate and leaving them scrambling for basic resources. Josh Griffith, a 21-year-old from Leicester, described the chaos, stating, “When it hit, we watched semi-trucks and storage crates and dumpsters and propane tanks floating down the river just rushing through parking lots, destroying everything in its path.”

Griffith and his fiancée were forced to navigate treacherous, flood-laden roads to escape the destruction, facing fears of losing control of their vehicle as they drove through rushing water. “It was really scary,” he recalled. After making it to safety, the couple returned to North Carolina with supplies to help their neighbors in need.

Buncombe County officials have since opened four water distribution sites to address the immediate needs of residents. As the recovery effort unfolds, the uncertainty looms large. Lifelong resident Grayson Barnette lamented the fate of families deeply rooted in their communities, stating, “Some people are just poor and have lived in the same places for generations. This was just unconscionable for a lot of people.”

As North Carolinians begin to pick up the pieces of their lives, the true extent of the storm’s devastation continues to reveal itself, leaving communities grappling with loss and uncertainty about their futures.