Nash County Sheriff's Office provides help in western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene

Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone described the scene he and a dozen deputies encountered when arriving in the western part of the state Monday.

"The roadways are washed away. There's trenches, 10-15 feet deep where there's usually a road across it," Stone said.

His team is working in Watauga and Buncombe counties, assisting local law enforcement as they perform welfare checks, utilize cadaver dogs, and deliver aid to those in need.

"It's unimaginable. There's lives that have been lost. There's families that have been broken apart," said Stone.

We have not forgotten the floods we had in eastern North Carolina and our western sheriffs didn't forget us then, and we're not going to forget our western brothers at this time.

FEMA has already distributed $2.6 million to eligible survivors, with Disaster Survivor Assistance teams on the ground assisting. As connectivity remains a key issue, there are 7,900 crews from across the country and Canada working on power restorations in the state.

"Gov. (Roy) Cooper has got help in here with the emergency management and also the DOT crews that are working on the roads. There's a lot of church groups that have brought great resources for trackhoes, and the community has brought out their trackhoes and dump trucks to try to fill these roads in temporarily," said Stone.

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Despite the challenges, he credited the resilience of residents.

"I'm just amazed at how resourceful these people are with the amount of damage that this community has suffered," said Stone.

Stone said his team will be on-scene as long as local sheriffs need them to, and he noted that deputies still in Nash County are working longer shifts to cover those engaging in relief work.

"We have not forgotten the floods we had in eastern North Carolina and our western sheriffs didn't forget us then, and we're not going to forget our western brothers at this time," Stone said.

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