Hurricane Helene Archive

Stories

The Hurricane Helene Archive brings together a collection of media contributed by community members, researchers, and historians. Use this page to explore firsthand accounts, images, and documents that offer insight into the storm, its impacts, and recovery efforts.

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  A PA Student's Helene Expirience

  I interviewed Abby Murphy on her experience as a PA student in Boone NC during Hurricane Helene. I have submitted the interview audio file along with a transcript of the interview.
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  The Bay of Sugar Grove

  Locals look out at the astonishing flood in the valley of Sugar Grove (near Watauga Bridge). During normal times, the river meanders through a small portion of that valley and stays at about 20 feet beneath that bridge. It looks more like a bay than a river valley.
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  Interview with Henna Wallace

  Interview on 10/5/2025 at the River of Us Festival in Trade, TN
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  Jackie Mace and her story of "Chaos"

  Interview Summary Participants ~ Dylan Jackson, Interviewer: Public Relations and Public Health major at Appalachian State University Jackie Mace, Interviewee: VP of Market Operations at Hopscotch Primary Care in Western NC Background and Introduction ~ Jackie has lived in Appalachia for about 10 years, moving from Minnesota to Maggie Valley and currently residing in the Marshall area. She works as VP of Market Operations for Hopscotch Primary Care, managing 11 clinics across Western NC. Her husband works for Buncombe County Schools. Pre-Hurricane Community Life for Jackie ~ Jackie described her community as close-knit but initially difficult to break into as a newcomer. Moving to the area in her 40s without a local support network was challenging, but her husband's local roots helped her integrate. Before the hurricane, the community already had a strong culture of mutual support and resilience. Experience During Hurricane Helene ~ Jackie had never experienced a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Helene. The most impactful aspect of the entire situation was the human response: neighbors and colleagues supporting each other with limited resources. The Hopscotch team, including out-of-state staff, worked together to check on employees, set up temporary infrastructure (like water tanks and porta-potties), and provide essential supplies to staff and patients. Jackie shared stories of extreme generosity, like a colleague who lost everything but still helped others. Personally, Jackie and her husband were without power or water for eight days. Their neighbors and family provided what they could, and the community rallied around each other. One powerful moment for her was relying on a small battery-powered radio, her only lifeline to the outside world, for storm updates and community news. Aftermath and Reflection ~ Jackie emphasized how the experience changed her perspective on life. Material things became less important; relationships, community, and mental well-being took center stage. She noticed increased friendliness and intentionality in her community since the storm, more casual conversations, more neighborly gestures, and deeper human connection. Jackie described her overall experience with Hurricane Helene in one word: chaos, but a chaos that revealed deep human resilience and unity. Interview Key Takeaways and Themes ~ Community Resilience: Despite widespread devastation, the community came together in extraordinary ways. Organizational Response: Hopscotch Primary Care prioritized employee well-being and patient care even amidst infrastructure collapse. Personal Growth: The storm served as a turning point for Jackie, reinforcing life priorities and personal strength. Preparation Lessons: Small tools like a radio made a massive difference; the experience emphasized the importance of being prepared and flexible in crisis situations.
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  Tyden Household Hurricane Experience

  I am a graduate student who goes to Appalachian State University and who also attended undergraduate school here as well. My partner and I had lived in Zionville for almost a year at the time when the hurricane hit. We are surrounded by people who keep Boone going—not by students. Our neighbors are families, retired couples, and farmers; we are the oddballs out here. We live with our two pets, a cat and a dog. When the hurricane hit hardest, it was in the night. I remember our AC going out. We live in an old cabin with no central AC or heat—we have a wood-burning stove for heat and in-unit ACs for summer. When the AC went out, it got hot quickly. I somehow went back to bed, but then was awoken again by a giant crash. I woke my partner, and we moved ourselves and the pets downstairs to the futon. At this point, our power was fully out, and it was hot and stuffy upstairs. We all ended up falling back asleep. When it was finally daylight, we were able to see what the big crash outside the house had been. An old shed behind the house had fallen during the night, but thankfully it hadn’t fallen on us. A thin tree had also fallen onto the porch but hadn’t damaged the house. We stayed inside for most of the day until the rain let up. My partner had a satellite phone, so we were able to contact our families to let them know we were safe. A thin tree was blocking our driveway, but we ventured out with our dog anyway. We checked on our neighbors, who were on their way to check on their church, which had apparently flooded badly. Another neighbor came by, soaked head to toe, to grab a chainsaw to help someone else. Across the way, our neighbor’s farm had turned into a river, and his cows had wandered into the hills, though they were safe. A whole trailer had been torn to pieces, and cars were floating by. People sped past on dirt bikes and four-wheelers, hollering to make sure we were okay. Construction equipment from people’s farms was already on the road, trying to clear the way. Farther down the road, we came to the flower farm, which was decimated. Their farm stand was gone, and the road was destroyed. On our way back home, several people told us there was only one way out, so we listened closely and took note to remember. Luckily, our neighbor across the way was a retired lineman, and the one next to us was a current lineman, and they warned it would be a long time before power came back on. So we decided the next day we were going to hack our way out of there and try to get through in our Prius. And miraculously—we did.
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  (none)

  I woke in the dark water dripping in my bedroom, no electricity, my phone blinking low battery, no one beside me. Outside, the wind howled, rain slammed the windows. Inside, silence except the water rising to my ankles. My apartment, drowning. What should I do? How do I reach someone? How do I ask for help? I opened the door the storm stared back, wild and unforgiving. I packed a few clothes, stepped into the unknown, heading to my friend’s house. The road was passable, but the world had changed. Cows once grazing now swimming. Trees, homes submerged. I lost my place. Can I return? What about my things? What about my life?
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  The Aftermath of Hurricane Helene

  I remember Hurricane Helene very vividly. In the days leading up to the hurricane, I had no idea it was going to be as bad as it was. I hadn’t really been watching the news, and my mom kept texting me updates about the storm. Mind you, my family lives in the Wake Forest–Raleigh area. I remember telling her, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” She would text me incessantly again, I had no idea it was going to be as bad as it was. Nobody did. I brushed it off, thinking it was just going to be a short rainstorm. But little did I know the devastation that would follow. The night before, I didn’t think to get bottled water, non-perishables, or anything like that. All I had bought was toilet paper. I was ignorant. As anxious a person as I am, I’m usually much better at planning for the worst. This time, I wasn’t. And this time, I dealt with the consequences. The morning of September 27, my roommate and I woke up to a flooded basement. Our power had gone out. We were without food, water, or electricity. At that point, we began collecting rainwater just to have something to drink. We couldn’t call or text our families. We were completely disconnected from everyone, just the two of us, waiting for the storm to blow over. Around 4 p.m., the rain finally stopped. My roommate and I went outside to assess the damage. To the right of our house, the road above ours had collapsed, causing a major landslide that spilled into the middle of our street, blocking us in. The basement of a house below ours had flooded about five feet. The students living there had to break a window to let the water escape. Looking in the other direction, to the left of our house, a power line hung dangerously in the middle of the street. The wind had knocked over a tree, which had landed right on it. After seeing all the destruction Hurricane Helene had caused, my roommate and I began trying to clear the road so we could leave the neighborhood in search of food and water. A few of our neighbors were doing the same. As we tried to clear debris from under our car with a snow shovel, a college student from across the street approached us, asking for help. The poor guy looked pale, was shivering, clearly hungry, and dehydrated. He said he didn’t live at the house and that he was just staying with his buddies. They had no food or water, and he asked us for a ride. His car had been completely demolished. Debris, including a ping pong table, had been lodged underneath it. He couldn’t get out. His car had been parked at the house with five feet of flooding in the basement, so I could only imagine what it looked like. My roommates and I were fortunate to have only five inches of flooding. We lived in a duplex on a hill my roommate and I lived upstairs, and our two other roommates (two guys) lived on the bottom floor. Eventually, we cleared the debris from beneath our car and went in search of any places that might be open. Once we saw that there was power on campus, we stopped at The Market. Sheetz was open too, so that became our second stop, before taking the guy we helped back home. The next day, not knowing when our power would be back, I packed my things and left to stay with my family for the next few weeks.
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  Blairmont Lake

  The experience was truly wild. Being located above the floodplain and the greenway as well as right next to the hospital I often figured the storm would kind of pass us over. The storm never fully picked up until the morning of Thursday. When I woke up the water had risen another 10 feet nearly. It had to have been well over 20 feet from the floodplain. During the storm I was able to witness countless cars going by, gazebo’s, trees and so forth. It truly put the storm into perspective. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be in the area that I was in. As flat and open as the golf course was allowed the water to pass us over without decimating bridges, homes and other larger structures. The water had a way to go. I remember the water coming up over barns and well over the tops of road signs. It was also wild that no one else could have experienced what I did in that area. Everyone had a different view and situation. Standing by helpless watching everything pass was painful. Quickly after the store I remember checking on the houses close by and in the flood zone. The water and mud did not leave for months. The power lines remained across the road for up to two weeks. Being so close to the hospital I figured we would receive power quickly but it was out for a few weeks. Despite the storm I have never felt closer to my neighbors and to my community. It truly opened my eyes. Additionally going to Spruce Pine a week after to deliver supplies it blew my mind even more. There were steel I beams for factories or warehouses that were twisted like a bread tied around a 50 ft bridge, the water had come well over the top. Seeing the place that I had spent so much time visiting receiving it considerably worse than myself was hard. A bit of survivors guilt. The same for the Watuaga river past valle crucis. The flood plains truly saved my life and those around the main rivers were not so fortunate. It was heartbreaking. The video was used by some students down the mountain in Charlotte and Winston for school newspapers as the view was so alarming. It put the amount of water into perspective. I cannot imagine having being on a bend or river location.