There will be so many Helene stories to come in NC. We’re committed to telling them
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Hurricane Helene Aftermath
Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeast, causing major flooding and destruction throughout North Carolina. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer about Hurricane Helene and the aftermath, particularly in Western North Carolina.
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It’s been a grueling, emotional week for North Carolina as we learn the incredible toll that Hurricane Helene took on our state and its cherished mountains. Even now, a week after the storm’s arrival, the scope of the lives lost, the property destroyed and the landscape forever changed is hard to comprehend.
There are so many stories and images that will be seared forever in our minds.
On Tuesday afternoon, I got a text message from reporter Josh Shaffer and photojournalist Kaitlin McKeown, who had followed a convoy of relief vehicles traveling into hard-hit Avery County in the North Carolina High Country: “We’re the first reporters in Banner Elk.”
And they immediately got to work, documenting in words and pictures a place where “the police lieutenant saw his house float away” and “for days, food, water and diapers have arrived by helicopter.”
Kaitlin and Josh were but two of the many journalists from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer who have worked to tell this immense story throughout the week:
- Photojournalist Travis Long of The N&O, who has family in Cherokee, was there even before Helene’s arrival. The photographs sent from across the region by Travis, Kaitlin and Robert Willett of The N&O and Khadejeh Nikouyeh of The Observer have been devastating.
- Khadejeh and N&O reporter Martha Quillin captured stories of a family bracing for flooding who suddenly faced a landslide; a beloved Asheville area for artists washed away, and a wedding that went on in the storm’s aftermath, with the National Guard arriving to wish the couple well.
- The Charlotte Observer’s Ryan Oehrli joined Travis for a report from the small town of Marshall, where resilient residents are thinking of the future as they dig out from mounds of mud.
- The N&O’s Brian Gordon and Robert, in the tiny area called Pensacola, talked to a resident who recalled a flood from 1977. But this time was different, she said, as “she felt the entire mountain move.”
- Virginia Bridges of The N&O told the heartbreaking story of families and friends searching for missing loved ones.
- N&O transportation reporter Richard Stradling has constantly updated a list of the many road closures in the area, as well as explaining why rebuilding Interstate 40 through the mountains will be such a challenge.
- The Charlotte Observer’s Evan Moore and The N&O’s Drew Jackson have updated a county-by-county list of damages.
- As the situation turned political, with candidates and current office holders sparring over the federal and state response, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan and Danielle Battaglia did a Reality Check to find the truth.
- And correspondents Emily Vespa and Caitlyn Yaede also did some fact-checking about the many fake images being shared on social media and how to spot them. (Please, folks, don’t share that photo of the crying little girl with big eyes holding the crying little dog with big eyes. It’s AI generated, and there are many real photos that show what real people are dealing with. It doesn’t need fake embellishment.)
These are just some of the many stories that The N&O and The Charlotte Observer have done. Our newsrooms have worked together closely, coordinating our response and trying to cover as many angles from as many places as possible.
All of our Helene aftermath coverage is outside of our existing paywall, and we are sharing freely with other newsrooms across North Carolina. You can find all our stories at newsobserver.com/topics/helene-nc. You’ll also find links there to ways you can help.
On their trip into Banner Elk, Josh and Kaitlin talked to Fire Chief Tyler Burr. He offered a memorable quote. “Let’s be honest, we’re the stepchild of the nation. If Taylor Swift gets engaged tomorrow, we’re an afterthought.”
We’re committed to making sure that doesn’t happen.
There will be a lot of rebuilding to be documented. There are many questions to be answered. And there are many stories to tell.
Thad Ogburn is interim executive editor of The News & Observer.
This story was originally published October 5, 2024 at 9:00 AM.
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