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AMNA NAWAZ: A week after
Hurricane Helene devastated
part of the state,

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residents in some states are
still trying to get the very
basics they need, water,

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food and power. Hundreds of
people remain unaccounted for,
and so far more than 200 have

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died. That makes it the
deadliest hurricane to hit
the mainland U.S. since
Katrina back in 2005.

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We spoke with residents in
some of the hardest-hit areas
around Asheville and the

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surrounding towns in
Western North Carolina and
Eastern Tennessee about
what life looks like now.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the
past week, tens of thousands
of people like Emily Bigelow

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have had to learn how to live
without modern plumbing. Now
forced to rely on creek water,

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she carries it by hand
back to her house to
make her toilet run.

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EMILY BIGELOW, Asheville,
North Carolina,
Resident: A full bucket

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is about two flushes. They
are saying probably weeks
before we can get water

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again, which you take
for granted being able
to flush a toilet.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For three
years, Bigelow and her partner,
Matt Capello (ph), have shared

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this home in Asheville, North
Carolina, in the quiet foothills
of the blue ridge mountains.

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But last Friday morning, they
woke to a community transformed
overnight. In just three days,

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Hurricane Helene dumped
over 17 inches of rain
onto this surrounding area,

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part of the trillions of gallons
of water that Helene released.

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In North Carolina, it
triggered catastrophic
floods. More than 500

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miles away from Florida,
where Helene came ashore.

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EMILY BIGELOW: I don't know
of anyone in the community

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in Asheville or the surrounding
areas that were ready for this.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Over 70
people have been confirmed
dead in this county alone. It's

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a death toll that's expected to
rise because search-and-rescue
teams from around the nation

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are still looking for hundreds
of missing people here and
in neighboring communities.

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EMILY BIGELOW: For the first
couple of days, I just kind of
felt paralyzed. I haven't walked

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over to look at the bad areas
of the city because I just
don't think I can handle it.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Bigelow is
coping by doing what so many
residents here are doing,

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helping others, like
82-year-old Maude Adams (ph).

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EMILY BIGELOW: It's helped me
to just be able to help people,

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you know. Trauma really
brings people together.

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MAUDE ADAMS, Asheville,
North Carolina, Resident:
It pulled it loose and
tore off the end, the roof.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Adams
has lived here for
more than 40 years.

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MAUDE ADAMS: That's
the bathroom window.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But she
hasn't left in a week since
the storm knocked this massive

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tree onto her front porch. Adams
says she's been through floods
before, but nothing like this.

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MAUDE ADAMS: This time,
I have never heard as

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bad as it is now, nope, in your
- - in this one place since '81.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Like so
many across this region,

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she has no power, no water, no
access to the outside world,
except a transistor radio.

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Her sister died this year and
she says the isolation coupled

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with the devastation has been
tough. But, like so many,
she's thinking of others.

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MAUDE ADAMS: You just think
about other people. I mean,

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they got it a lot worse
than I have. At least
I have got my home yet.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Just
across the border,
in Eastern Tennessee,
Reverend Brooks Ramsey

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has been collecting
donations to send out to
the hard-hit towns nearby,
like Newport and Del Rio.

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WOMAN: This is the first
truck of the day and there
are many more packages.

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REV. BROOKS RAMSEY, Sevierville,
Tennessee, Resident: Right
before I came on with you,

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the Newport rescue squad
backed up a 16 foot
trailer to our driveway

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and we loaded them up with
everything from soup to
feminine hygiene products,

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toilet paper, baby formula.
If you name it, we had it.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: He's
determined to not let the nation
forget what's unfolding here.

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REV. BROOKS RAMSEY: These people
are easily forgotten. It's very

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easily -- to forget us.
And then there's everything
going on in the world too. So

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there's all these
distractions and people just
get lost in the shuffle.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Among
those lost in the shuffle,
says Ramsey, is his
family friend, Sibrina

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Barnett, who was working
in Erwin, Tennessee,
when floodwaters swept
through the town.

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REV. BROOKS RAMSEY: She
was loaded up on a flatbed
and with an indeterminate

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number of people, it got swept
away by the water. He was
loaded up on a flat bed and with

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an indeterminate number
of people, it got swept
away by the water. And
Sibrina is still missing.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Earlier
this week, President Biden
toured the devastation by air,

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ordering 1,000 active-duty
troops from nearby Fort
Liberty to assist in
the recovery effort.

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He called the storm,
which intensified rapidly
the moment it hit the
unseasonably warm Gulf waters,

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a clear warning
about climate change.

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JOE BIDEN, President of the
United States: Nobody can deny
the impact of climate crisis

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anymore. At least I hope
they don't. They must be
brain-dead if they do.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Back
in Asheville, residents
like Emily Bigelow agree.

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EMILY BIGELOW: This is
definitely a huge wakeup
call. Climate change

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is real. This kind of
devastation really sends things
home on where we're at now,

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how fast things are
changing and how different
life is going to look.

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MAUDE ADAMS: Look how big
that thing is out yonder
at that roof, where it
come across the fence.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But for now,
there are no easy answers,

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just communities relying on
each other as they start on the
very long path to rebuilding.

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For the "PBS News Hour,"
I'm William Brangham.