Lost Lives and an Epic Crisis in North Carolina

The remnants of Hurricane Helene unleashed catastrophic floods and mudslides in North Carolina that destroyed or decimated many communities.

With roads, power lines, cellphone towers and water treatment plants damaged throughout the region, thousands of people found themselves cut off from or with little access to food, water, electricity, gasoline or phone service.

As state and federal agencies rushed to deliver supplies, other teams fanned out to search for hundreds of people still missing.

More than 35 storm-related deaths were reported in the state as of Sunday, part of Helene’s trail of destruction that began Thursday on Florida’s Gulf Coast and tore through the Southeast, claiming more than 90 lives. Gov. Roy Cooper called the crisis an “unprecedented tragedy.”

But entering the week, particularly in North Carolina, the full scale of devastation was still emerging.

Sunday, Sept. 29

Roads washed away near the Swannanoa River in Asheville, N.C.

Debris and a mobile home are piled up along a tree line in Old Fort, N.C.

Damaged roads in Asheville.

A damaged bridge over the Swannanoa River in Asheville.

A man in Asheville tells motorists to turn around because of live power lines that were down.

Saturday, Sept. 28

Asheville’s arts district was inundated.

Pieces of wood and tree branches, much of it dragged from the village of Chimney Rock, piled up by a bridge.

Flood damage inside a building in the Biltmore Village, a district in Asheville known for its restaurants and shops.

Floodwaters consumed buildings in Asheville.

Friday, Sept. 27

Flooded roads on the outskirts of Boone, N.C.

A portion of Highway 105 that washed away on the outskirts of Boone.

Gushing floodwaters swept away a home in Madison County.

Flooding ravaged many sections of Asheville.

A road in Edneyville, N.C., was swept away by rushing waters.