Officials in Georgia and North Carolina added to their states' grim tallies, padding an overall count that has already made Helene the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
A week after the storm came ashore in Florida before carving a path of destruction through the Southeast, connections between friends, neighbors and even strangers have provided hope in the worst-affected areas.
While cargo planes brought food and water to these areas and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm leaned on one another for support.
Sarah Vekasi, who makes and sells pottery out of her Sarah Sunshine Pottery store in Black Mountain, North Carolina, said she’s struggling with the trauma of the hurricane 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. More than 150 people gathered for Wednesday's session, as local leaders stood atop a picnic table shouting updates.
Martha Sullivan took 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.
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 on Sept. 26 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 last 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.”
