Western North Carolina facing a long journey to rebuild after Helene

WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA (WAVY) — When Helene hit, the creeks turned into angry rivers. They tore out massive chunks of land, washing out buildings, homes, large trucks and virtually anything else in their path.

Inside the newly formed riverbeds are an unbelievable amount of garbage and debris. The mess was everywhere.

While 10 On Your Side was there, our news team saw cars flipped over and wedged into the dirt, power lines and trees knocked down practically everywhere you go, and washed out roads still detouring traffic two weeks after the storm.

One person we spoke with grew up and lived on this same stretch of road his whole life and said he has never seen anything like this.

“Most water I’ve ever seen,” said Tommy. “I’m a 78-year-old and I ain’t never seen that much come down at one time. Washed everything out. The bridges, people’s cars, trucks, all my sheds are gone. It’s been pretty rough.”

He lives in the town where supplies donated by 10 On Your Side viewers were dropped off at a community center. Due to looting concerns, we agreed to not reveal exactly where it is.

Thankfully, his own home was spared. But some of his neighbors were not as lucky. One is staying inside a tent in his backyard with nowhere else to go. Like many nearby communities, they are doing their best to help each other.

“Everybody’s been nice, been plenty of food and water delivered and stuff,” Tommy said.

Down the road from his house, a main artery through town crumbled into the earth.

“Thought we were going to do some cut and shove, opening roads, stuff like that. Came and found out we’re going to be building the roads,” explained Jason Dunigan, Cumberland County Maintenance Engineer.

Dunigan came from out of town to help rebuild more at the beginning of October. He may very well stick around through the end of the month, putting in the foundation to replace and repave. Laying the ground work takes him about a week. The contractors who pave this are backed up, so that step might not happen for a while.

Seeing the warpath of Helene in person, Dunigan worries for the many people who lost their homes.

“It’s one thing to start when you’re 20, 21 years old,” he said. “But some of these people are in their 60s and having to start over. I don’t know how that’s going to go. I really don’t.”

The journey to rebuild town is sure to be a long one.

“It’s been a hard time, but we’ll make it,” Tommy said. “It’s looking a lot better.”

Around the clock in Fairview

In Fairview, North Carolina, we found a driveway that was washed away after Helene hit. It took out an entire mass of land, isolating several houses across from the newly formed chasm that used to be a small creek. Now it looks more like a river. 10 On Your Side saw situations like this all across the region.

Further upstream, there was a homemade bridge next to a two-story ladder. It appears to be their only way to get from one side to the other, with no way to drive out. The road alongside the chasm barely made it, still looking like it could crumble at any minute.

“Pretty unbelievable,” said Justin Hilliard who came in from Lee County Emergency Management. “Until you can really see it here, it’s hard to explain. Homes lost, roadways still destroyed.”

Hilliard came in to help the Fairview Fire Department get up and running. Their fire house flooded.

During the fury of Helene, Battalion Chief Tony Garrison made the ultimate sacrifice while working to rescue people in town. The wounds from this life lost too soon are still fresh as the crew gets extra personnel from neighboring fire departments.

“It takes a little bit of time to get these federal resources in,” Hilliard said. “They’re coming in, but it just takes time.”

He ordered the resources needed to build what looks like a city of tents and trailers behind the fire station — all next to a 7,000-gallon water tanker. Places to sleep, shower, and prepare for the next task will be set up outside fire as long as needed. On top of helping the many people impacted by Helene, they are still getting routine fire calls.

“Going out, doing welfare checks, we’re taking out supplies and donations to the community which are still inaccessible to public roadways,” Hilliard said. “It’s just a constant round the clock operation on top of the typical emergencies for this area.” The crews here actually had a structure fire in Black Mountain they had to respond to.”

Sinking into the flood waters

Near downtown Hendersonville, a removal company from out of state was seen taking yet another massive uprooted tree out of a house. Further downhill nearby, several fast food businesses and a grocery store were seen standing, but surrounded in caution tape. It is said many of these businesses took on deep floodwaters and may not open again for a very long time.

In a small town just outside Asheville, homes were swallowed. Dustin and his girlfriend Twila quickly got outside when water surrounded their home and shop.

“It just took everything,” Dustin said.

On cell phone video, it could be seen collapsing like a house of cards as the roof floats away downstream. They were left stranded and homeless.

“A couple days were kind of hairy,” Dustin said. “No power, no cell phones, no way out. The roads were blocked completely We’re staying across the street at a friend’s house for now, just trying to figure things out.”

Many homes that did not wash away were seriously banged up. Some shifted off their foundation by several feet. Others appear to be fine, but are now cut off.

“There was a bridge right there, you could get to the neighbor’s house, and it totally washed them out,” Dustin said.

He said an elderly couple there has not been able to leave the home for more than two weeks. They have to throw a rope across the newly-formed river where the driveway used to be, getting them food and insulin. It is one of the many creeks that suddenly expanded. Firefighters nearby estimate some creeks widened by about 400 feet.

“There’s a place, the community center down the road. There are some awesome people down there,” Dustin said, talking about where supplies donated by 10 On Your Side viewers were taken to over the weekend.

“It’s not bad, it could be worse,” Dustin said. “Some people lost a lot more than we did. I think we lost a little bit, but we’ll be alright.”

On top of neighbors helping each other, communities from across the nation are giving support, sending their cranes, food, water, firefighters, road crews and line workers — all on a long journey to rebuild western North Carolina. With destruction like this all over the region, the process of getting this area back to some state of normalcy could take several months. Some estimate a year or more.

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