The rain from Helene has stopped, but Asheville, North Carolina, is now mired in mud — and residents digging through that mud are still trying to assess the damage as they plan for weeks, if not months of cleanup.
AS of Tuesday morning, officials say more than 150 people have been reported dead in the aftermath of the storm, with at least 66 of them in North Carolina. Hundreds are still missing.
Power has not yet been restored to many neighborhoods, leaving more than a million people in the dark. Water is in short supply and cell service is still spotty.
Local officials say it could be two weeks before basic services are restored in the city.
From water drop-offs to shoveling literal tons of mud, people from far and wide are working to help each other.
"It's hard not to think about the suffering and the people that truly lost everything," one resident told Scripps News. "But I look at my five year old and what he's learning from this. It's too big for us as individuals. We can't lift this alone. But as a community and as a region, yeah, we're going to be all right."
RELATED STORY | In North Carolina, aid and personnel are rushing into storm-hit Asheville
The federal government is continuing to surge resources and personnel to the area to deliver aid.
On Wednesday President Joe Biden said he had directed the Secretary of Defense to deploy as many as 1,000 active duty U.S. soldiers to supplement National Guard personnel in North Carolina.
"These soldiers will speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies of food, water, and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina – they have the manpower and logistical capabilities to get this vital job done, and fast. They will join hundreds of North Carolina National Guard members deployed under State authorities in support of the response."
