Heartache and hope 6 months after Helene

AccuWeather

Families and small businesses are adjusting to a new normal and focused on rebuilding six months after Hurricane Helene flooded the mountains of western North Carolina.

Transcript

00:00It was pretty devastating the first time I saw it.

00:03That heartache is now turning to hope six months after Holleen brought catastrophic

00:08flooding to the mountain towns of Chimney Rock and Lake Lure.

00:12It's incredible the amount of progress that they've made in such a short period of time.

00:16It has everything to do with the people of North Carolina.

00:18We want to let people know that we're still struggling.

00:21This place has gone through an incredibly traumatic six months.

00:26Rescuers are working to rebuild Marshall after 12 feet of floodwaters surged through

00:32the town.

00:33Locals are turning to art to remember what was lost and they're hopeful visitors will

00:38return to the region that depends on tourism.

00:42There's probably not as much business as you're used to, but there are businesses and we do

00:46need support from people.

00:48When the wind starts coming and the rain, there are a lot of people that get PTSD coming

00:53back.

00:54Oh, is it going to do what it did before?

00:56The need is so great.

00:57Churches and disaster relief groups are still giving out free meals six months after the

01:03storm.

01:04There's some places that are not coming back and some people that are not coming back,

01:09but that's just part of the new normal, you know.

01:12Some of the families that lost their homes faced a very difficult winter, staying in

01:16campers in the snow.

01:18Officials tell us housing is a top priority and they want everyone in a home or an apartment

01:25well before next winter.

01:27When you think about recovery from storms like Helene, I mean, six months is the blink

01:30of an eye.

01:31We know that when the next storm comes and we know that storms are happening more and

01:35more frequently, we've got to be sure that the way we rebuild now takes that into account

01:41and whether we go higher, whether we go to more stable ground.

01:45Mountains of debris, trees and mud are being cleaned up and hauled out.

01:50It can be emotional seeing what it looked like in the beginning, but it's also emotional

01:53in a positive way now, seeing all the improvements and seeing North Carolina recover.

01:57And we will continue until the mission is complete.

01:59We are very motivated to be here.

02:00We care about North Carolina and we will not stop until it's done.

02:03Locals say they're grateful for the volunteers and donations that poured in from across the

02:08country as they worked to rebuild what the floodwaters swept away.

02:13The best thing I've ever seen come out of this, the people coming together.

02:19Reporting in Western North Carolina for AccuWeather, I'm Bill Waddell.

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