(NewsNation) — Hurricane Helene was a life-changing storm, causing devastation across the Southeast last September, and communities are still recovering six months later.
The Category 4 hit the Florida Peninsula, bringing a record storm surge to Tampa Bay and winds up to 140 mph.
At landfall, it tore down trees, caused major flash flooding from Georgia to the Carolinas and into Tennessee.
New data reveals that, in total, at least 249 people died, the bulk of those in North Carolina, making this the deadliest storm to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.
Six months since Helene, the scars run deep well beyond the physical damage, still scattering the landscape.
“I lost my house. I’ve lost my brother, and it’s just overwhelming,” said Gary Floyd, a hurricane survivor from eastern Tennessee.
Cloyd’s brother Steve is one of six people still missing after being swept away from his home in eastern Tennessee last September.
His mangled Jeep was found covered in mud a third of a mile from where he lived.
Torrents of water rushed through the mountainside, submerging homes and businesses in a matter of minutes after a biblical 30 inches of rainfall.
New data shows the storm caused nearly $79 billion in damages, making it the 7th costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
With the majority of storm survivors’ Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) applications denied, part of the burden is rebuilding, left to those who chose to stay after the disaster.
Just outside Asheville, Jenica Grooms converted her destroyed auto body shop into a staging area to build temporary housing for those who lost everything.
“My goal was to keep people in the communities. Otherwise, people are gonna move out,” Grooms said.
With more than 73,000 homes damaged in North Carolina alone, her team has constructed more than 100 buildings so far. She also distributs food collected by her friends in Nashville who send donations to this day.
Accessing hardest hit areas is getting easier as roads and bridges were rebuilt at the beginning of March.
But now the area faces a new threat of raging wildfires, which are hindering cleanup efforts. The downed trees from the storm are acting like tinder, fueling the flames and drought conditions in Western North Carolina.