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.
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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.