Human connections bring hope in North Carolina after Helene

A passerby checks the water depth of a flooded road in Morganton, N.C.

By Jeff Amy, Erik Verduzco and Brittany Peterson

Oct. 3, 2024 Updated 1:59 PM PT

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. — Sarah Vekasi is a potter who runs a store in Black Mountain, N.C., called Sarah Sunshine Pottery, named after her normally bubbly personality. But these days she’s struggling with the trauma of Hurricane Helene and uncertainty about the future of her business.

“All I can say is that I’m alive. I’m not doing great. I’m not doing good. But I’m extremely grateful to be alive, especially when so many are not,” Vekasi said.

One thing that makes her feel a little better is the fellowship of the daily town meeting at the square.

“It’s incredible being able to meet in person,” said Vekasi, who was cut off by impassible roads for days. At Wednesday’s session more than 150 people gathered as local leaders stood atop a picnic table shouting updates.

In the midst of the devastating destruction left by the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, human connections are giving the survivors hope in western North Carolina. While government cargo planes brought food and water into the hardest-hit areas and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm, whose death toll soared to 202 on Thursday and could rise higher still, were leaning on one another.

Martha Sullivan, also at the town meeting, was taking careful notes so she could share the information — roads reopened, progress in getting power restored, work on trying to get water flowing again — with others.

Sullivan, who has lived in Black Mountain for 43 years, said her children invited her to come to Charlotte after the storm, but she wants to stay in her community and look after her neighbors.

“I’m going to stay as long as I feel like I’m being useful,” Sullivan said.

Helping one another in the hardest-hit areas

In remote mountain areas, helicopters hoisted the stranded to safety while search crews moved toppled trees so they could look door to door for survivors. In some places, homes teetered on hillsides and washed-out riverbanks.

Electricity is being slowly restored, as the number of homes and businesses without power dipped below 1 million for the first time since last weekend, according to poweroutage.us. Most of the outages are in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene struck after barreling over Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane. Deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.

Robin Wynn lost power at her Asheville home early Friday and was able to grab a bag of canned goods and water before getting to a shelter despite water up to her knees.

“I didn’t know where I was going, didn’t know what was going to happen next. But I got out and I’m alive,” Wynn said Wednesday.

Now that she’s back home, her neighbors have been watching out for one another. Plenty of people have come around to make sure everyone has a hot meal and water, she said.

Eric Williamson, who works at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, normally makes home visits to members who can’t physically get to church. This week, he’s their lifeline, delivering food that meets dietary restrictions and tossing out food that had spoiled.

Beyond checking in on the essentials, he says it’s important to just socialize with folks in a moment like this to help them know they aren’t alone.

He has a handwritten list of everyone he needs to visit. “They don’t have telephone service. Even if they have a landline, a lot of that isn’t working,” Williamson said. “So we’re bringing them food and water, but also just bringing them a smile and a prayer with them just to give them comfort.”

Volunteers in Asheville gathered Wednesday before going out to help find people who have been unreachable because of phone and internet outages. They took along boxes of drinking water and instructions to return in person with their results.

Even notifying relatives of people who died in the storm has been difficult.

“That has been our challenge, quite honestly, is no cell service, no way to reach out to next of kin,” said Avril Pinder, the county manager in Buncombe County, where at least 61 people have died. “We have a confirmed body count, but we don’t have identifications on everyone or next-of-kin notifications.”

Biden and Harris get a firsthand look

President Biden spoke with survivors and first responders and surveyed damage Thursday in Keaton Beach, Fla., walking past mountains of splintered wood, demolished homes and massive pieces of siding crumpled like paper. Biden met with people who had lost homes; one couple were living out of a trailer near the wreckage of their home, their personal belongings strewn on the ground.

The president also was due to visit Georgia on Thursday.

Biden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina on Wednesday. The administration announced a federal commitment to foot the bill for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months in North Carolina and three months in Georgia. The money will address the effects of landslides and flooding and cover costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters and mass feeding.

Speaking afterward in Raleigh, N.C., Biden praised the Democratic governor of North Carolina and the Republican governor of South Carolina for their responses to the storm, saying that in the wake of disasters, “we put politics aside.”

“Our job is to help as many people as we can as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can,” he said.

“We’re not leaving until you’re back on your feet completely,” Biden said.

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to neighboring Georgia on Wednesday. .

Devastation from Florida to Tennessee

Employees at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee who kept working last week until water flooded their parking lot and power went out at the plant were among those killed. The floodwaters swept 11 workers away, and only five were rescued. Two are confirmed dead.

Tennessee state authorities said they are investigating the company that owns the factory after some employees said they weren’t allowed to leave in time to avoid the storm’s impact.

Hospitals and healthcare organizations in the Southeast mostly stayed open despite dealing with blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding. Many hospitals halted elective procedures, but only a few closed.

In Florida, officials were turning to “low risk” state prisoners to help clear the mountains of debris left behind.

“Department of Corrections, they do prison labor anyways. So they’re bringing them to do debris removal,” Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Wednesday.

Amy, Verduzco and Peterson write for the Associated Press and reported from Black Mountain, Swannanoa, N.C., and Hendersonville, respectively. AP journalists Colleen Long in Raleigh; Kate Payne in Madiera Beach, Fla.; John Raby in Charleston, W.Va.; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville; Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Md.; and Cedar Attanasio and Jim Mustian in New York contributed to this report.