Hundreds of thousands of people remained without power Saturday morning in North Carolina in the aftermath of a tropical storm that started as Hurricane Helene.
Helene’s remnants dumped historic levels of rain across the state, leading to devastating flooding in Western North Carolina and a web of impassable roads and interstates.
In a state familiar with the power of hurricanes along its long coast, the level of devastation in North Carolina’s mountains, hundreds of miles inland, has been sobering.
Images from newsrooms and social media show houses floating down a muddied French Broad River, submerged cars and the town of Chimney Rock seemingly erased by a mudslide.
There are nearly 400 closed roads across the state, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. That is going to hinder efforts to help those harmed.