SWANNANOA, N.C. — Three-year-old Fitz Lytle was burying a plastic cheetah toy in a tub of lavender-scented sand.
“Is Fitz going to help them?” asked Shelby Ward, an early childhood mental health specialist sitting nearby.
“A police car will help them,” Fitz replied, steering a matchbox-sized police car around the mound where the cheetah’s ears poked out. The rescue vehicle was one of several figurines, along with fences, homes and plastic tea lights symbolizing electricity and candles, chosen for their relevance to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The Category 4 storm dumped nearly 15 inches of rain on this North Carolina town late last September and caused more than $59 billion in damage to the western part of the state…