North Carolina: Communities come together to rebuild after Hurricane Helene

CNN
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It had been 48 hours since the winds and rains of Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina, and Sam Perkins still hadn't heard from his parents.

So on Saturday morning, he got into his vehicle and drove to her home, which sits on a mountain between Spruce Pine and Little Switzerland, to find her.

“My parents live in an absolute gem in the mountains of North Carolina,” Perkins said in a post about his experience. The area is about an hour's drive from Asheville. “In normal circumstances it is fortunately very isolated,” he added.

“I didn’t know that Helene had destroyed roads, houses and utility networks up there. This area is completely cut off from resources in all directions.”

According to CNN, at least 93 people died after Helene ripped through the southeastern United States, including at least 30 in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located. North Carolina has been hit hard: Days of persistent flooding have turned roads into waterways, leaving many without essential supplies and straining state resources.

Gov. Roy Cooper called it “one of the worst storms in modern history.” While relief supplies have been deployed, at least 280 roads across the state are still closed, making it difficult for officials to get them to areas in need, Cooper said. The storm killed at least 30 people in Buncombe County.

When he realized how many roads were cut off, Perkins said he parked his vehicle near a closed highway at the base of the mountain and walked to his parents' house.

“I've tried every possible road route, but no matter where you go, the roads are blocked by landslides or failures,” Perkins told CNN. “I can’t tell you how many broken roads and deep mudslides I had to cross, how many fallen trees I had to take off my backpack and walk through.”

While hiking, Perkins said he came across several people trapped due to the destroyed highway. Perkins said he hiked 11 miles and 2,200 feet for more than three and a half hours to finally reach his parents' home.

“I've never been so relieved to see someone doing well,” Perkins told CNN, adding that his parents are in their 70s but are pretty resourceful people.

“I just hugged them, cried, told them all the news they missed…I walked around the property and helped them decide how to approach some challenges.”

Perkins found his parents in good health and their home mostly in order, but they were essentially trapped and unable to hike down the mountain, he said.

“They have food. They're pretty much out of water, but they have enough propane to cook as soon as they need it,” Perkins told CNN on Sunday, noting that restoring power to her region could take weeks.

After finding his parents on Saturday, fog and rain set in and Perkins decided to head back down. “I didn't want to use up their supplies, so I decided to head back,” Perkins explained, adding that he was even able to hitch a ride with someone on an undamaged stretch of road on the way down the community.

And that community is strong, he said: “Everything you would expect from Southern Hospitality.”

His mother was able to send him a message the Sunday before, which was mostly about getting supplies for her neighbors.

“I’m still processing everything. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Perkins said. “The power will go out in a few weeks. I can’t imagine how long it will take (the Department of Transportation) to repair the winding roads that climb the steep mountainsides.”

Just east of Buncombe County and the hardest-hit city of Asheville is McDowell County, where more than 20 air rescues have been performed since early Saturday morning, county emergency management said in a news release Saturday.

The heavy rains caused the Swannanoa River to overflow its banks, flooding McDowell and other counties in the region.

Jim and Allie Bourdy moved into their house in Beacon Village, which is right on the river, almost eight years ago. As the Swannanoa River rose and flooded, it destroyed everything they owned.

The couple and their dog had to climb onto the neighbor's roof for safety, Jim Bourdy told CNN on Sunday.

“We literally lost everything,” Jim Bourdy said. “We lost our two cars and a small mobile home. The life we ​​built here is gone.”

They tried to evacuate Friday evening, but flooding made the roads impassable, Bourdy said. Unable to escape the floodwaters, the couple retreated home with their dog Piper to gather supplies and plan their next move.

But soon the water began to seep in.

“We were on our porch and the water was waist deep,” said Bourdy, who had now strapped Piper to his back.

As the water continued to rise, the couple knew their only chance of survival was to climb onto the neighbor's roof, which was lower than theirs. To get there, they were able to use two Styrofoam exercise boxes as swimming aids.

While they were on the roof, they called 911 but were told no one could come to save them, Bourdy said.

About an hour later, a neighbor came with a kayak and took them one by one to higher ground.

“When we reached the top of the hill, I knew that the only two things that mattered in my life were my wife and my dog,” Bourdy remembers.

They then went to another neighbor's house to dry off and change. That evening, Bourdy said, they spent a night at a shelter. The next morning they were able to contact a close friend with whom they now live.

Bourdy returned home Sunday to see what he could salvage. But except for a few cans and camping gear, everything would end up being thrown away, he said.

“Honestly, literally everything is just gone,” he said. “(Flooding) was up to the gutters.”

Holding firewood in her hands, Meredith Keisler, a school nurse in Asheville, told CNN, “We collect wood because we have a grill to make fires and cook food.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Keisler added, noting that she has no water, electricity or cell service.

It's a feeling shared by many in the community.

Michelle Coleman, the executive director of a religious outreach organization called Asheville Dream Center, told CNN that she had never seen Asheville in the state before.

“This is the most devastating thing I have ever seen in our entire city,” Coleman said. “Our prayer is that people will not lose hope because our community is coming together. Asheville is a strong community.”

Gary O'Dell, a disabled Vietnam War veteran, told CNN Sunday was the first day he was able to leave his East Asheville home because of the rubble. But he stressed: “The neighbors were great. We have a good neighborhood.”

He said he shared his oxygen tank with a neighbor. “My next door neighbor ran out of oxygen, he's in worse condition than me,” said O'Dell, who has lung cancer. He added that his daughter lost her home due to the flood.

“There are just so many people who have it worse than me and we're lucky, we have our homes and we're dry and safe,” O'Dell added.

Lucy Tavernier, who is part of a group helping with the cleanup, said the area “looks like the bottom of a river.”

It is “covered in trash, trees and mud and it stinks,” she said.

Tavernier recalled seeing on her lawn what she thought were materials from a store she visited near her home. She said she believes the site may have been washed away by the storm.