1 00:00:01,766 --> 00:00:04,833 AMNA NAWAZ: A week after Hurricane Helene devastated part of the state, 2 00:00:04,833 --> 00:00:09,733 residents in some states are still trying to get the very basics they need, water, 3 00:00:09,733 --> 00:00:14,733 food and power. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for, and so far more than 200 have 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,266 died. That makes it the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina back in 2005. 5 00:00:22,433 --> 00:00:26,800 We spoke with residents in some of the hardest-hit areas around Asheville and the 6 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,800 surrounding towns in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee about what life looks like now. 7 00:00:33,866 --> 00:00:38,166 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the past week, tens of thousands of people like Emily Bigelow 8 00:00:38,166 --> 00:00:43,133 have had to learn how to live without modern plumbing. Now forced to rely on creek water, 9 00:00:44,866 --> 00:00:49,833 she carries it by hand back to her house to make her toilet run. 10 00:00:51,500 --> 00:00:53,466 EMILY BIGELOW, Asheville, North Carolina, Resident: A full bucket 11 00:00:53,466 --> 00:00:57,033 is about two flushes. They are saying probably weeks before we can get water 12 00:01:00,566 --> 00:01:05,533 again, which you take for granted being able to flush a toilet. 13 00:01:09,566 --> 00:01:13,666 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For three years, Bigelow and her partner, Matt Capello (ph), have shared 14 00:01:13,666 --> 00:01:18,666 this home in Asheville, North Carolina, in the quiet foothills of the blue ridge mountains. 15 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,866 But last Friday morning, they woke to a community transformed overnight. In just three days, 16 00:01:28,133 --> 00:01:33,133 Hurricane Helene dumped over 17 inches of rain onto this surrounding area, 17 00:01:34,633 --> 00:01:38,466 part of the trillions of gallons of water that Helene released. 18 00:01:38,466 --> 00:01:43,333 In North Carolina, it triggered catastrophic floods. More than 500 19 00:01:43,333 --> 00:01:47,366 miles away from Florida, where Helene came ashore. 20 00:01:47,366 --> 00:01:51,266 EMILY BIGELOW: I don't know of anyone in the community 21 00:01:51,266 --> 00:01:56,233 in Asheville or the surrounding areas that were ready for this. 22 00:01:58,266 --> 00:02:01,233 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Over 70 people have been confirmed dead in this county alone. It's 23 00:02:01,233 --> 00:02:06,233 a death toll that's expected to rise because search-and-rescue teams from around the nation 24 00:02:08,300 --> 00:02:11,933 are still looking for hundreds of missing people here and in neighboring communities. 25 00:02:14,033 --> 00:02:18,366 EMILY BIGELOW: For the first couple of days, I just kind of felt paralyzed. I haven't walked 26 00:02:20,433 --> 00:02:24,200 over to look at the bad areas of the city because I just don't think I can handle it. 27 00:02:28,966 --> 00:02:33,466 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Bigelow is coping by doing what so many residents here are doing, 28 00:02:33,466 --> 00:02:37,300 helping others, like 82-year-old Maude Adams (ph). 29 00:02:37,300 --> 00:02:41,533 EMILY BIGELOW: It's helped me to just be able to help people, 30 00:02:41,533 --> 00:02:45,133 you know. Trauma really brings people together. 31 00:02:45,133 --> 00:02:50,133 MAUDE ADAMS, Asheville, North Carolina, Resident: It pulled it loose and tore off the end, the roof. 32 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:53,666 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Adams has lived here for more than 40 years. 33 00:02:53,666 --> 00:02:55,833 MAUDE ADAMS: That's the bathroom window. 34 00:02:55,833 --> 00:02:58,700 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But she hasn't left in a week since the storm knocked this massive 35 00:02:58,700 --> 00:03:03,666 tree onto her front porch. Adams says she's been through floods before, but nothing like this. 36 00:03:06,066 --> 00:03:07,600 MAUDE ADAMS: This time, I have never heard as 37 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:12,533 bad as it is now, nope, in your - - in this one place since '81. 38 00:03:14,566 --> 00:03:16,700 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Like so many across this region, 39 00:03:16,700 --> 00:03:21,600 she has no power, no water, no access to the outside world, except a transistor radio. 40 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,100 Her sister died this year and she says the isolation coupled 41 00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:33,100 with the devastation has been tough. But, like so many, she's thinking of others. 42 00:03:40,300 --> 00:03:43,300 MAUDE ADAMS: You just think about other people. I mean, 43 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:48,300 they got it a lot worse than I have. At least I have got my home yet. 44 00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:53,566 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Just across the border, in Eastern Tennessee, Reverend Brooks Ramsey 45 00:03:53,566 --> 00:03:58,533 has been collecting donations to send out to the hard-hit towns nearby, like Newport and Del Rio. 46 00:04:00,366 --> 00:04:05,000 WOMAN: This is the first truck of the day and there are many more packages. 47 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,533 REV. BROOKS RAMSEY, Sevierville, Tennessee, Resident: Right before I came on with you, 48 00:04:09,533 --> 00:04:14,533 the Newport rescue squad backed up a 16 foot trailer to our driveway 49 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,800 and we loaded them up with everything from soup to feminine hygiene products, 50 00:04:21,233 --> 00:04:25,233 toilet paper, baby formula. If you name it, we had it. 51 00:04:25,233 --> 00:04:29,700 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: He's determined to not let the nation forget what's unfolding here. 52 00:04:29,700 --> 00:04:33,466 REV. BROOKS RAMSEY: These people are easily forgotten. It's very 53 00:04:33,466 --> 00:04:38,066 easily -- to forget us. And then there's everything going on in the world too. So 54 00:04:38,066 --> 00:04:41,566 there's all these distractions and people just get lost in the shuffle. 55 00:04:41,566 --> 00:04:46,200 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Among those lost in the shuffle, says Ramsey, is his family friend, Sibrina 56 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:51,200 Barnett, who was working in Erwin, Tennessee, when floodwaters swept through the town. 57 00:04:53,066 --> 00:04:56,966 REV. BROOKS RAMSEY: She was loaded up on a flatbed and with an indeterminate 58 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,600 number of people, it got swept away by the water. He was loaded up on a flat bed and with 59 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,700 an indeterminate number of people, it got swept away by the water. And Sibrina is still missing. 60 00:05:06,733 --> 00:05:09,900 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Earlier this week, President Biden toured the devastation by air, 61 00:05:09,900 --> 00:05:14,900 ordering 1,000 active-duty troops from nearby Fort Liberty to assist in the recovery effort. 62 00:05:17,333 --> 00:05:21,200 He called the storm, which intensified rapidly the moment it hit the unseasonably warm Gulf waters, 63 00:05:22,833 --> 00:05:25,700 a clear warning about climate change. 64 00:05:25,700 --> 00:05:28,333 JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Nobody can deny the impact of climate crisis 65 00:05:28,333 --> 00:05:33,333 anymore. At least I hope they don't. They must be brain-dead if they do. 66 00:05:35,133 --> 00:05:38,500 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Back in Asheville, residents like Emily Bigelow agree. 67 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:42,900 EMILY BIGELOW: This is definitely a huge wakeup call. Climate change 68 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:47,900 is real. This kind of devastation really sends things home on where we're at now, 69 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:58,000 how fast things are changing and how different life is going to look. 70 00:06:00,900 --> 00:06:04,733 MAUDE ADAMS: Look how big that thing is out yonder at that roof, where it come across the fence. 71 00:06:04,733 --> 00:06:08,533 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But for now, there are no easy answers, 72 00:06:08,533 --> 00:06:13,533 just communities relying on each other as they start on the very long path to rebuilding. 73 00:06:15,666 --> 00:06:20,666 For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham.