North Carolina is still recovering after Helene

Over a month later Hurricane Helene devastated regions of the southeastern United States, some communities in the mountain towns and villages of western North Carolina are still without water, electricity, infrastructure and a regular school schedule.

While these needs are central to recovery efforts, the trauma that comes with them is indispensable loss, sadness and harrowing survival experiences can harm residents for years to come.

“I think a lot of us are coming out of our immediate fight-flight freeze right now,” says Rachael Chatham, a licensed clinical mental health counselor who has been practicing in Asheville, North Carolina, for more than a decade. “It can be incredibly challenging, especially if you have a belief system that says, ‘I persevere’ or ‘I’m strong, therefore I can do this on my own’ or ‘I don’t need anyone.'”

In the heart of the Appalachian MountainsChatham and others say that people grow up learning to be self-reliant, a trait they have communities helped then try to rebuild it the natural disaster. However, the emotional influences associated with recovery may require different tools.

WATCH as this historic city tries to rebuild after being nearly wiped out by the storm

Hotel owner says historic North Carolina town nearly wiped out by Helene

Josh Copus, a hotel owner and artist in Marshall, North Carolina, describes how flooding after Tropical Storm Helene decimated the small town.

Allison Jennings and her husband Chris run a nonprofit called Community Kitchen, which serves food to those in need year-round. Their building flooded during the storm, and after experiencing other major floods in the past, they say fear strikes every time it rains heavily.

“I stood there in the rain with a tape measure and measured how close the river comes to the storm drain discharge,” Chris said. “So there was a physical toll, an emotional toll. Unless you’ve experienced it, you can’t understand it.’

USA TODAYnext to the Asheville Citizen Timeshas spent time in several North Carolina communities to understand how people are coping mentally, physically and emotionally since then storm that occurs once every thousand years on September 27, destroying homes, businesses, roads and livelihoods.

“You think you’re doing it right, you buy a house, you’re doing all these things right, and something like this happens in a community where you don’t expect flooding,” said John Zara, standing next to piles of rotten wood and destroyed items outside his home in Swannanoa.

“In addition to losing your home and your belongings, you have also lost your ability to provide income. The collection agencies are still knocking. The mortgage company still wants their money. So it’s one thing after another. It’s a lot to think about and take on a lot at once.”

Zara says he, his wife Stephanie, and two children aged seven and two, were able to escape their flooded home when water almost reached the attic. Stephanie says she climbed a tree, called for help and, along with her children, were rescued by neighbors with kayaks.

“To be able to talk about it, I think it gives us an opportunity to heal together as a community in a way that just going back to shoveling some mud isn’t always possible,” Chatham said. “We have a tendency to bottle things up and repress them.”

WATCH how this family of four escaped rapid flooding in their home during the storm

Watch the Swannanoa family describe the harrowing experience of escaping the flood

John Zara explains how he, his wife and two children escaped from their home when water levels nearly reached the attic in Swannanoa, North Carolina.

Josh Copus, an artist and entrepreneur in the historic city Marshall, North Carolina, says he felt isolated and upset when he started cleaning up in the aftermath of the massive flooding. But then something unexpected happened. People he didn’t even know offered to shovel mud for hours from his boutique hotel. He calls it ‘hope for humanity’.

“That’s what it’s given me: personal strength to get through this,” Copus said as he carried rubble from his building in a wheelbarrow while wearing a construction mask. “We’re going to do it together.”

By supply mules life-saving medicines and supplies in hard-to-reach areas to homegrown chefs delivering hot meals to the hungry, there’s no need to look for helpers. No matter which community we visited, the helpers were everywhere.

“We basically do what chefs do and use the product we have in front of us,” said Ashleigh Shanti, owner of Good Hot Fish in South Asheville. The restaurant, like so many others, is temporarily closed because the city has no drinking water. Shanti and other local chefs work together to prepare large quantities of donated food for those in need of a free hot meal.

“I feel like my job is to feed people,” says Shanti, a local celebrity after competing on the reality cooking series Top Chef in 2022. “This is just what comes naturally.”

WATCH the full documentary, Healing After Helene: North Carolina Rebuilds, at the top of the page.