‘People are just scrambling’ – North Carolina shocked by Helen

On Monday, Mayor Patrick Fitzsimmons found himself in the heart of the disaster zone.

His town of Weaverville, North Carolina, had no electricity; He told the BBC that only one grocery store was still open, electricity poles had collapsed, the town’s waterworks was flooded and people had been without safe drinking water for four days.

In larger Buncombe County, where Weaverville is located, at least 35 people have died and 600 are unaccounted for, a local resident said. CBS News affiliate reports.

Mr Fitzsimmons said the county had set up a website where people could check on missing persons. Officials have received 11,000 requests so far.

In the southeastern United States, Storm Helen threw millions of residents into chaos. it hits florida The Category 4 hurricane moved through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee on Thursday, causing flooding, power outages and deaths.

In the days since, as residents began returning to their homes to survey the damage, the true scale of the devastation became more apparent.

At least 116 people have died nationwide, officials said.

One of them is Madison Shaw’s mother.

“The last thing she said to me was… ‘I love you, stay safe. See you later,'” the Anderson, South Carolina, resident told CBS News. “I said, ‘I love you. I’ll see you later too.

“I can’t even describe it,” Ms. Shaw told CBS News. “My mom is my best friend.”

A White House spokesman said Monday that 2 million people are currently without power. President Joe Biden called the storm “making history.”

Some of the most horrific reports came from North Carolina, where Governor Roy Cooper said communities had been “wiped off the map” and dozens of rescue teams were deployed.

Buncombe County and West Point, N.C. weather the test some of helen’s worst anger.

The county includes Asheville, a city in the Blue Ridge Mountains known for its arts and music scene. Helen flooded the city, driving people from their homes and leaving residents fighting for basic resources. Trucks and trees crashed into buildings, and downed power and phone lines hung dangerously over the streets.

“The house was destroyed and razed to the ground,” said Josh Griffith, 21, who lives outside Asheville in the town of Leicester.

“When it hit, we saw semi-trucks, storage bins, bins and propane tanks rushing down the river and through the parking lot, destroying everything in its path,” he told the BBC.

The apartment he shared with his fiancée, perched high on a hill, did not suffer any serious damage. But on Saturday afternoon, without power or food, they decided to flee, heading toward northeastern Georgia along rain-soaked roads.

At one point, Mr Griffith and his partner were forced to drive straight through floodwaters, six inches of running water sitting on six inches of mud. Emergency officials generally warn people not to drive into floodwater of any depth during storms.

“It’s really scary,” he said. “Any time you’re driving on rapids like this, there’s a concern that your tires might slip out from under you.”

They made it, stopping overnight in Georgia before driving back to North Carolina to bring food, water and supplies to Buncombe’s neighbors.

“People are just scrambling to get whatever resources they can get,” he said.

Buncombe County officials opened four water distribution sites across the county on Monday.

Last week, before Helene arrived, 28-year-old Jesse Ross wondered whether the storm would be as devastating as some predicted.

“It turned out to be huge,” he said.

On Friday, Mr. Ross witnessed a “flood” flowing through his small town of Waynesville, North Carolina. The bridge cannot be crossed. He couldn’t get in touch with anyone. He told the BBC his family were safe but they had spent several days under a boil water warning.

As residents begin to pick up the pieces, their future remains uncertain.

Grayson Barnette grew up in Lenoir, North Carolina and now lives nearby, where he is a lifelong resident.

“Some people are just poor and have lived in the same place for generations,” he said. “That’s unreasonable to a lot of people.”

Mr Barnett fears residents’ deep ties to their communities may lead some to stay and ride out the storm despite warnings.

“Whole communities were wiped out,” Mr Barnett said. “People may or may not come back.”

Additional reporting by Holly Hondrich