Governor Cooper orders all flags at half-staff in memory of those killed in Helene :: WRAL.com

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper this weekend ordered all U.S. and North Carolina flags at state facilities to be placed at half-staff to mark one month since Hurricane Helene.

The order calls for all flags to be flown from sunrise on October 26 to sunset on October 27 to mark the month since Helene struck and in memory of the 95 North Carolinians who died in the storm. Record-breaking rain amounts and historic flooding devastated western North Carolina, washing away roads, homes, businesses and critical infrastructure in many mountain communities.

More than 1,700 soldiers and airmen from the National Guard, the Army, 1,700 FEMA personnel and 1,750 first responders from 39 states have come to North Carolina to help with the response. Many first responders from the Triangle area have come to the mountains to help with necessary care and supplies.

Helene passed through the southeast on the morning of September 27 after making landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast late on September 26.

“Today we remember those who lost their lives to this terrible and powerful storm and we mourn with their loved ones,” Cooper said in a news release. “Hurricane Helene has forever changed lives, communities and our entire state. The losses are heartbreaking, but the determination to rebuild Western North Carolina is even stronger and we must continue to work together to recover.”

There were two benefit concerts scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, one at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and another at Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh. Students in Buncombe County