‘A Community Driven to Rebuild’: Asheville Begins Long Road to Recovery After Hurricane Helene

The community of Asheville, North Carolina, is looking down a long road to recovery after Hurricane Helene battered the area.

The Hill reported Sunday that trees are in pieces and bridges are broken down while homes, vehicles, and appliances are still littering the community.

WATCH — Asheville’s River Arts District Submerged After Helene’s Historic Floods:

The report said people and groups are working to get residents food and other essentials as the cleanup drags on.

“It’s a community driven to rebuild, while honoring the dozens of mountain residents who died in floodwaters or landslides,” the article read, adding the recovery will turn into a “massive undertaking.”

Video footage posted on October 10 shows the destruction the storm left behind in Asheville:

The Hill noted that the situation has deeply hurt workers, small-business owners, restaurants, retailers, and children who have missed school. In addition, the article said tourism in the area has been “hobbled” as a result.

“The scale and cost of recovery is immense,” the report continued:

The state budget office has estimated Helene’s damage and recovery needs at $53 billion. On Friday, the General Assembly approved a second round of relief funding, totaling $604 million, which is on top of an initial $253 million outlay. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) had asked for $3.9 billion, which he called “a downpayment on western North Carolina’s future.”

USA Today reported that, as of Tuesday, 26 people were still unaccounted for in western North Carolina.

“The missing were being sought and tracked by a North Carolina Department of Public Safety task force created after several hundred people were unaccounted for amid widespread communication and power blackouts. Last week, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said 96 people were missing,” the article said.

According to WYFF, one of the buildings hit by flooding in Asheville was Manna Food Bank that is now starting over in a leased location as it works to help the community:

It is important to note that while recovery efforts have been underway in the North Carolina mountains, the number of individuals turning out for the first day of early in-person voting “exceeded the first-day total four years ago,” the Associated Press (AP) reported October 18.