ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Portions of Western North Carolina are virtually unrecognizable after catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Helene devastated the area and killed more than 40 people.
“Devastation does not even begin to describe how we feel,” Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said Monday.
Among the hardest-hit locations were the areas around Asheville in Buncombe County. As of Monday afternoon, officials said 40 people in the county had died and several hundred more were still missing.
In nearby Macon County, a courthouse security officer died after his truck went underwater during the flooding. Crews said on Sunday they recovered the body of Jim Lau, saying he had left for lunch and never returned.
"The North Carolina death toll included one horrific story after another of people who were trapped by floodwaters in their homes and vehicles or were killed by falling trees. A courthouse security officer died after being submerged inside his truck. A couple and a 6-year-old boy waiting to be rescued on a rooftop drowned when part of their home collapsed," the Associated Press reported.
Power and phone services are still out for hundreds of thousands of people, which has created serious communication gaps. Authorities said they expect the number of missing people to go down once communication services are restored and roads were reopened.
Several people remained stranded after flooding washed away portions of roads across the mountains, which included the section of I-40 near the Tennessee state line that's seen below. North Carolina Secretary of Transportation Joey Hopkins said I-40 experienced some of the worst damage. Nearly every road into North Carolina from Tennessee remained closed as of Monday evening, and it's unknown how long it will take to repair the damage.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation said all roads should still be considered closed on the western side of the state. NCDOT shared photos of the terrible state of roads near the Lake Lure area.
Lake Lure, a scenic destination next to Chimney Rock, looked "post-apocalyptic" in videos recorded of the aftermath. Tariq Bokhari, who serves on the Charlotte City Council, shared harrowing footage of what he saw when he went to help. The normally pristine lake was filled to the brim with debris, overturned boats and docks that once lined it.
The nearby town of Chimney Rock was "leveled" by flooding, according to WLOS in Asheville.
Just west of Chimney Rock in the Bat Cave community, cottages that once lined the Broad River vanished. A section of the Chimney Rock Road bridge at U.S. Highway 64 was destroyed, cutting off one of the main routes in the area.
Parts of the Asheville area along the French Broad River were washed out during the flooding. Downtown Asheville was largely spared the worst, but the Biltmore Village just to the south of downtown saw some of the worst flooding in that area.
Just southwest of downtown, the Asheville River Arts District was not spared from the French Broad River's rage. Several of the colorful businesses were left in a state of muddy ruin after the waters receded.
"You've heard us say, 'catastrophic, devastation within our county.' I would go a little bit further and say we have Biblical devastation through the county," Buncombe County Emergency Services Assistant Director Ryan Cole said. "We've had Biblical flooding here, and it has been extremely significant."
Supplies have been hard to come by in the area because of the vast damage to roads. People lined up for nearly half a mile at some gas stations in Western North Carolina just for a change to fill their tanks.
Authorities said looting was also a problem in some areas.
However, far more people could be seen in the Asheville area handing out supplies and helping others in what ever way they could. Some people with power set up power strips that others in the neighborhood could use to recharge their phones.
Restoration crews from as far as Texas arrived to help restore power and water. They told 10News they expected to be there for at least four to six weeks in order to get essential utilities restored.
Supplies are being brought to people in Western North Carolina by any way possible, including by plane and mule.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told people that more help was on the way for them. The National Guard delivered more than 100,000 pounds of food and water to the Asheville Regional Airport that will be distributed to the western half of the state.
President Joe Biden said Monday that FEMA sent thousands of personnel to deliver supplies to people impacted by Helene. FEMA was on the ground Monday with Cooper assessing the damage.
Elsewhere in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis went to areas of the state hit hard by Helene on Monday. He encouraged the federal government to direct more of its efforts to North Carolina.
“Florida, we have it handled,” DeSantis said. “We have what we need. Most of the effort should be in Western North Carolina right now because you still have active rescues that need to take place.”