North Carolina town bands together after Helene wreaked havoc: 'That's what we do'

RED HILL, N.C. – James Waters watched Helene's torrential rains and fierce winds decimate his farm set among the hilly slopes of Appalachian North Carolina, snapping trees, ripping out fences and causing a landslide.

"The whole side of the mountain came down," he said. "Then it filled up the valley with mud."

It took him a full day to dig to the main road with a farm excavator. He found roads strewn with downed power lines, fallen limbs, thick mud, and debris. In some areas, cars were washed into ditches. One neighbor found a body near a riverbank, he said.

No one had cell service or power. People couldn’t find out if their relatives were alive or dead. Waters knew he had a huge recovery ahead. But his family had survived. So, like others in the area, he first grabbed his chainsaw to help clear roads and check on neighbors.

On Sunday afternoon, it led him to pull his muddy white Chevy pickup ? an 8,000-watt generator in the back ? up to a darkened general store in Red Hill, a tiny mountain community near Bakersville set along a road between steep hillsides.

The store, run by Kacie Smith, 28, and her father, is a community hub. Outside, two soda machines sat near an old diesel pump topped with a sign advertising live bait. Inside, residents generally come for pickled eggs, aspirin, chewing tobacco, batteries, lottery tickets, snacks and community news ? at least before the power went out.

Since the storm, the store had lost more than $6,000 worth of stock, the ceiling was sagging from water, and the gas pumps weren’t working. After arriving, Waters pointed a flashlight at a fuse box to jury-rig the generator’s connection. Smith said such help is just how things are done.

Smith added that much of the tree removal from roadways in her area by Sunday was completed by local residents, who did not wait for overwhelmed state crews. "It’s Red Hill ? it’s a pretty tight community,” she said, cautioning that the recovery probably would be long and painful.

"It’s been just mass destruction around here," she said.

Searching in anguish, fearing the worst

Across western North Carolina and parts of eastern Tennessee, Helene’s destruction continued to emerge on Sunday. The storm washed away bridges, closed roads, destroyed buildings and cut off power. At least 90 people have died across multiple states since the record-breaking storm hit the U.S. last week.

At a church shelter in Greeneville, Tennessee, just over the state line and run by the Red Cross, volunteers made pancakes early Sunday for a handful of people still sleeping on cots after being forced from their homes. Many who were there on a previous night had found housing with friends or in hotels, said Pat Barraclough, a volunteer.

In Erwin, a town of about 6,000, people streamed into a local high school serving as a shelter to get hot food, bottled water and clothing. Some were still searching in anguish for missing relatives, fearing they were swept away in the floods. Others, having lost access to homes or had their businesses damaged, were grappling with next steps.

Some had arrived from North Carolina, weaving through treacherous mountain backroads littered with downed power lines and collapsed trees and avoiding roads where bridges had been washed out. Some bought fuel for generators and returned home.

How can I help those affected by Helene? Here are ways you can donate.

Farther west of Red Hill, in the town of Burnsville, more than 100 people stood in line at a grocery store for food. At another location, people clustered around an emergency relief Wi-Fi site. The roads were choked with utility trucks and emergency vehicles.

Smith had made a trip to Tennessee, too, where phone service was still operable. Back in Red Hill on Sunday, she talked to a steady stream of people pulling up to ask for directions.

"How is the road down to the bridge? Can I get my car to it?" one woman asked. "Can I get over it?"

"They were working on it," she replied. "You might be able to get through today."

One resident handed over a slip of paper and asked Smith to make a call the next time she went to a place with cell service. It was a note with a phone number and the name of his neighbor’s family. "He is OK, but we have no power, cell or internet," it read.

Smith said most of her neighbors made it, too. And she has faith they’ll be OK.

"Everybody around here’s in the same boat. But they’ll survive," Smith said. "They’ve got their grill, their generators."

'We’re going to check on the neighbors. That’s what we do'

Waters isn’t sure that insurance will cover his losses to his farm, which include cattle and a sawmill. He know it’s a long road. At least his Scottish Highland cows survived, he said.

But he sees a silver lining, too, watching some people who rarely speak suddenly thrust into helping one another. That’s heartening in a time of political division, he said. And that silver lining extends to his kids, too, he said.

"They’re learning about life without the internet. My son got to go out and learn about helping the neighbors," Waters said. "He’s like, 'Where are we going?' We’re going to check on the neighbors. That’s what we do. These are good lessons."

As Sunday afternoon light waned, Waters ? helped by friends who tried to sort out why the generator wasn’t working ? finally saw the lights flicker back on as the generator roared. The lottery sign lit up. The freezer came back on.

The gas pumps weren’t working, but they kept at it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Helene's destruction in North Carolina: Town bands to stay united