ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Since Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across the Southeast nearly a week ago, residents of western North Carolina’s mountains have been isolated and without power or telephone service. They rely on old-fashioned methods of communication and coping.
In the town square in Black Mountain, local leaders stood on a picnic table and shouted when power might be restored. A woman took notes to pass on to her neighbors. Next to a row of fences, the names of those still missing were listed on a makeshift bulletin board. In other areas, mules delivered medical supplies to mountain homes. Residents collected water from streams and cooked over camp stoves. And all across the region, people looked after each other.
After surveying the area by helicopter on Wednesday, President Joe Biden praised North Carolina’s Democratic governor and South Carolina’s Republican governor for their responses to the storm and said that after disasters, “we put politics aside.”
As government cargo planes brought food and water to the hardest-hit areas and rescue workers waded through streams to search for survivors, those who weathered the storm, whose death toll has risen to more than 180, leaned on each other — not on technology.
“I didn’t know where I wanted to go, didn’t know what would happen next. But I got out and I’m alive,” said Robin Wynn, who lost power in her Asheville home early Friday and was able to grab a bag of canned goods and water before getting to a shelter, even though she was out of water Kneeling was enough.
Now that she’s back home, she said her neighbors have been looking out for each other. Many people stopped by to make sure everyone got a balmy meal and water.
We facilitate each other in the most affected areas
In remote mountainous areas, helicopters ferried those stranded to safety while search teams cleared fallen trees so they could search door-to-door for survivors. In some places, houses stood on hillsides and flooded river banks.
Nearly a week after the storm, more than 1.1 million customers were still without power in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene struck after slamming into Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane. In addition to the Carolinas, deaths have also been reported in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
Sarah Vekasi is a potter who runs a shop in Black Mountain called Sarah Sunshine Pottery, named after her usually bubbly personality. But these days she is struggling with Helene’s trauma and uncertainty about the future of her company.
“All I can say is that I’m alive. I’m not feeling well. I’m not doing good. But I am extremely grateful to be alive, especially when so many are no longer around,” Vekasi said.
What makes it a little better is the community at the daily town hall meeting on the square.
“It’s incredible to be able to meet in person,” Vekasi said after Wednesday’s meeting, where more than 150 people gathered.
Martha Sullivan took careful notes during the meeting so she could share the information – roads reopened, progress in restoring power, work trying to get the 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 take care of her neighbors.
“I’ll stay as long as I feel like I’m useful,” Sullivan said.
Eric Williamson, who works at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, typically makes home visits to members who cannot physically come to church. This week he is their lifeline, delivering food that meets dietary requirements and throwing away spoiled food.
Aside from just focusing on what’s significant, he says it’s significant to simply connect with people in a moment like this to show them they’re not alone.
He has a handwritten list of everyone he needs to visit. “They don’t have phone service, even if they have a landline, a lot of it doesn’t work,” Williamson said. “So we bring them food and water, but also just bring them a smile and a prayer to give them comfort.”
Volunteers in Asheville gathered Wednesday before heading out to facilitate find people unreachable due to phone and internet outages. They had boxes of drinking water and instructions to return in person with their results.
Even notifying families of people who died in the storm was complex.
“That’s been our challenge, quite honestly: no cell service, no way to reach next of kin,” said Avril Pinder, an official in Buncombe County, where at least 61 people have died. “We have a confirmed body count, but we do not have identification of everyone or notification of next of kin.”
Biden and Harris get their first look
Biden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina and got a firsthand look at the chaos left by a storm that has now killed at least 189 people. This makes Helene the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center.
In his speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, Biden said: “Our job is to help as many people as possible, as quickly as possible and as thoroughly as possible.”
This includes the federal government’s commitment to cover the costs of debris removal and emergency protection measures for six months. The money will be used to address the impacts of landslides and floods and cover the costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelter and mass feeding.
“We’re not leaving until you’re fully back on your feet,” Biden said.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to neighboring Georgia, where she said the president had approved a request to foot the bill for similar emergency aid there for three months.
Biden plans to travel to disaster areas in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.
Devastation from Florida to Tennessee
Those killed included employees at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee who continued working last week until water flooded their parking lot and the factory lost power. The flood swept away eleven workers and only five were saved. Two are confirmed dead.
Tennessee state authorities said they were investigating the company that owns the factory after some employees said they were not allowed to leave the factory in time to avoid the storm’s effects.
Hospitals and health facilities in the Southeast remained mostly open despite power outages, wind damage, supply problems and flooding. Many hospitals stopped elective procedures, while few closed completely.
In Florida, officials turned to “low-risk” state prisoners to facilitate clear the piles of debris left behind.
“The correctional facility does prison work anyway. So they take them to debris removal,” Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Wednesday.
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Verduzco reported from Swannanoa, North Carolina, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Brittany Peterson in Hendersonville, North Carolina, contributed to this report; Kate Payne in Madiera Beach, Florida; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland; and Cedar Attanasio and Jim Mustian in New York.
