Rising from ruin: survival and strength after Helene

AccuWeather

Cleanup efforts are underway in the Asheville area where Hurricane Helene left devastation in its wake. Communities like Swannanoa are coming together to share stories of survival and resilience.

Transcript

00:00It's been days since Hurricane Helene

00:02ripped through Western North Carolina,

00:03but the pain and destruction here

00:05are certainly far from over.

00:07Neighborhoods have been left in ruins,

00:09families displaced,

00:10and for many the horrors of those

00:12floodwaters is still fresh.

00:14All you could see is their chimneys.

00:16And it happened within like 30 minutes.

00:19It was like the water was rising and then.

00:22And then by the time we were able

00:25to get the kayaks and stuff,

00:27it was already up to their their gutters

00:29and then up to their chimneys.

00:31Kimberly Sam says they're small,

00:33but mighty town of Swannanoa wasn't

00:35waiting for help to arrive.

00:36Neighbors scrambled racing against

00:38rising water to save people from

00:40certain death when the first lady

00:41he saved was like a 80 year old

00:44lady and she was hanging on to a

00:46light pole and he ended up having

00:48a tire to the back of his kayak

00:50and he brought her up.

00:51We had to like drag her over a fence

00:54and he was going over power lines,

00:56fences, 17 people,

00:57two children and even pets were

00:59rescued, but the aftermath is brutal.

01:01Homes destroyed, lives turned upside down.

01:03It came in minutes and stayed for hours.

01:05One family had just finished

01:07renovating their home after it had

01:09been in the family for generations.

01:11Now faced with wreckage,

01:13my parents bought the house from

01:15my grandparents in the 70s and we

01:17just bought it from my mom two years

01:20ago and just finished renovations.

01:22It was beautiful inside in nearby

01:25Old Fort. Residents are still

01:27stepping in where aid is falling short,

01:29handing out meals, water,

01:31baby supplies, anything to help

01:33neighbors who lost everything.

01:34People started donating everything

01:36out of their refrigerators.

01:37Because they knew that they

01:39couldn't keep it going.

01:41But why not feed the community

01:43rather than, you know,

01:44just throw it away?

01:45The destruction is undeniable,

01:47but so is the community spirit.

01:49Neighbors who never spoke before

01:51now consider each other family.

01:52Like we've never hung out,

01:54but now we've been hanging out.

01:57Yeah, yeah, we hang out every day

01:59like a family now. Yeah, we were.

02:03They've weathered the storm,

02:04but for many the real fight

02:06rebuilding has just begun.

02:08For Accuweather, I'm Allie Reed.

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