Hurricane Helene: One week after the deadly storm hit western North Carolina

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Rescue crews and volunteers facing obstacles at every turn in North Carolina’s remote mountains paddled canoes across swollen rivers and steered horses past mudslides in the rush to reach those stranded or missing by Hurricane Helene’s rampage that killed more than 200 throughout the Southeast.

Now a week since the storm first roared onto Florida’s Gulf Coast, the search continued for people who have yet to be heard from in places where phone service and electricity were knocked out. Pleas for help came from people running low on medicine or in need of fuel for their generators.

How many people are missing or unaccounted for isn’t clear. The death toll soared to 215 people on Thursday as more victims were found, making Helene the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. Roughly half the victims were in North Carolina, while dozens more were killed in South Carolina and Georgia.

Along the Cane River in western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, rescuers from the Pensacola Volunteer Fire Department were cutting their way through trees at the top of a valley nearly a week after a wall of chocolate-milk colored water swept through for hours.

Pensacola, which sits a few miles from Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi River, lost an untold number of people, said Mark Harrison, chief medical officer for the department.

"We’re starting to do recovery,” he said Thursday. “We’ve got the most critical people out.”

Harrison was helping dispatch volunteers driving all-terrain vehicles on supply runs to people still on ridgetops. Many don’t want to leave their houses, while others lost their vehicles and need help getting to town.

Bradley Billheimer, who hiked down to the fire station to access the internet, said he just talked to his mom for the first time since the storm. He feared his house will be without power for months.

“I think we’re going to walk out in a couple of days,” he said.

In another county that sits alongside the Tennessee state line, crews were just finishing clearing main routes and reaching side roads that wind through switchbacks and cross small bridges that can be tricky to navigate even in the best weather. Each road presented a new challenge.

“Everything is fine and then they come around a bend and the road is gone and it’s one big gully or the bridge is gone.” said Charlie Wallin, a commissioner in Watauga County. “We can only get so far.”

Most people the crews come across turn out to be fine and just in need of water, but every day there are new requests to check on someone who hasn’t been heard from yet, Wallin said. When the search will end is hard to tell, he said.

“You hope you’re getting closer, but it’s still hard to know,” he said.

A week into the search and rescue operations in Buncombe County, which includes the hard-hit tourist city of Asheville and where more than 72 have been killed, the county doesn’t have an official tally of people who are unaccounted for or missing.

The county sheriff said his office believes more than 200 people are missing, although other officials said the number is constantly changing when crews make contact with people who hadn’t been accounted for or receive new names of people who may be missing.

“We’re continuing to find people. We know we have pockets of people who are isolated due to landslides and bridges out,” said Avril Pinder, the county manager. “So they are disconnected but not missing.”

Frank Johnson, who owns a company that makes robotic cutting machines in Mars Hill, North Carolina, said he feels like he is running a relief mission on his own. He’s using his own workers, volunteers and supplies and know-how from his company to get water, food, fuel and other supplies to his neighbors.

“I’ve been hearing there are entire neighborhoods gone. I’m still not sure people have the whole grasp of what we’re dealing with,” Johnson said.


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My heart continues to go out to these fine people. God Bless you all!🙏💕I'm in Tennessee. Not too far from those affected in TN. This is so sad for all. May you find the strength to go on. Just put God in your hearts and leave it to him. I promise, you will get through this in time. Time heals🙏

Beccaroo
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Omg. This is heart breaking. I am in New York City and our neighborhood got taken out by Sandy. But seeing this? I have no words. These poor people. I wish I could do more than prayers and donate. God bless you all. 😭💔🙏🏻

kathleenp
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The pack mules and the men that have been delivering medical & emergency supplies/ food /water to the people whom are stranded and stuck in there homes /places that Atv's, military vehicles etc. Cant go need more recognition & support ... These pack mules are really the heros for being able to travel the obstacles and terrain to the people that have no outside contact with anyone or help due to the devastating destruction and damage, but the pack mules are making it possible to reach the people and places ! LETS SHOW THE PACK MULES AND THEIR OWNERS & OPERATORS SOME APPRECIATION & SUPPORT....

Crayz
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Thank you for this extensive report. There are no human words for this type of tragedy. 💔

tb-ik
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It’s a beautiful thing to see neighbors helping each other. And necessary since we can’t count on the federal government to help

tracywynn
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Brad is the very reason I took this storm super serious. He said that he was really worried for all our friends in the mountains and how dangerous this could be. He's never someone who makes a drama out of nothing and I knew it would be bad. Like he said you cannot describe how it ended up. I say in Banner Elk it's apolcolyptic but in lower Avery and South like Asheville, it's biblical. Still isn't a good enough description. We are lucky. We have spring water, a generator and we had bought gas. Friday was so scary. We lived and our house survived with some leaks we are working on. Electric will be out 3 to 5 weeks electric company said. But we lived because we prepared because we listened to Brad. Thank you Brad!

carriegarrisonvos
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I've been through a few floods in my life, and I really think it's hard for folks who have not experienced one, to understand what a flood looks like. The idea that the water level can be so high.. it's mind blowing.

kiapanthistledown
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06 Oct 2024 France AWARD WINNING
Thank you for this excellent reportage of this tragic disaster.
I don’t know what award system for television news coverage there is, but whatever it is, you should win it. This is the most informative, covering so many issues and at the same time, heart filled news report I have seen in these troubled times. Thank you and God Bless you.
Jesus loves you...a.

a.porter
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I live in Western NC in Hendersonville. We were blessed as our RV park made it out unscathed. Some branches down and thats it. The owner has opened the showers to the public. But our neighbors showed their courage and hearts and I just want to say I love you WNC❤❤❤

kelliedoxiern
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I know that that woman had damage to her barn and lost the hay but she did rescue the animals God bless her and them, and everyone else affected in the flood areas. 💕🙏🇺🇸

cynthiamcgee
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Yes, I went through Hurricane Sally and people came to help that I didn't know. A lot of them were from South Carolina with the Baptist church. May God bless all those giving of themselves in time of need.

alicewbretz
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Finallya News story I did not turn off, because although devastation, it was real info, reality.

esthersalness
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Morgan is an amazing man he looks like he's Cherokee and the Cherokee do not give up and they will go to every inch of their life to save somebody or to help somebody or animals. My daddy was a quarter Cherokee my Grandaddy was half. ❤️🙏

cynthiamcgee
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The saddest part of all of this is people who live outside of Asheville already don't have much and are poor. This is catastrophic for everyone and i dont know if some will eveb rebuild here.

rageintothelight
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Ham operators are amazing and awesome my daddy was a ham. 💕

cynthiamcgee
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It’s amazing the hope a single Warm meal can bring back to a person.

lisajeter
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So so so sad😔 prayers upon prayers. May God bring complete restoration and new beginnings. I wish i had words to encourage and edify but none comes to mind. Just prayers 😭😭😭😭😭 May God build up what was lost, give hope to the hopeless, faith and power to pick up the pieces. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

northerncapeprovinciallegi
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No one really expected this storm to be this devastating. In this area we were going. to tropical storm. For that reason we weren’t prepared.

katherinepolk
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45:00 travel insurance is for unforseen circumstances and yes, a hurricane impacting all the way to NC was unexpected. You are lucky that you were able to pressure your host into providing a refund.

michellelester
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Wasnt there a dam that broke? I heard (early) from the news there was a big concern for residents due to a dam breech or complete failure. If a dam broke and with all the rain they experienced for two days prior to Helene hitting none of them stood a chance. It sounds like “the perfect storm”. I wonder if ANY of it could have been prevented? I’ve seen this kind of water from storms that drop 13 inches an hour in Houston, only to find out later that leadership didn’t update much needed infrastructure with our bayous which would have prevented the devastation. All of America is watching and with NC even if our GOVT still does nothing.

DataJunkieTX