SWANNANOA, N.C. — In a small community in Swannanoa, North Carolina, devastated by Hurricane Helene, is a man who has lived there for more than two decades.
Fred Forester was cleaning his house when he realized the amount of work it would take to get back to normal. As he works to clean up the devastation in his home, he chooses to keep his spirits high.
Forester's home is one of many devastated by the floodwaters that swept through western North Carolina. And while the house itself is salvageable, Forrester, a teacher is still coping with the loss.
"There's research stuff, some paperwork and books and things that are, you know, only important to me, but they're gone, they're done," Forester said.
His strategy to get through the cleaning process is to throw what he has away, which is hard for him to do. But he also said he's thankful to have something left to salvage.
"There's going to be a lot of work. But again, we have something that we can repair," he said. "There are other people [left with nothing]. That all cuts pretty deep. We help people where we can. Um, we've handed out when we have extra water. You know, we just pass it on."
At the same time, more than a dozen volunteers from Samaritan's Purse came to Forester's aid with shovels to help clean out the house.
Across the area, people are showing up to help people like James Ellis.
"When I saw the pictures on online and stuff, I just woke up and said, 'Hey, we gotta do something about this,'" Ellis said.
Ellis quickly raised $6,000 through social media, got in his truck and headed out.
His only plan was to help.
"Whatever that people say they need, that's what today is, we're finding out what that need is," Ellis said.