North Carolina woke up to an all-too-familiar nightmare this Sunday as Hurricane Helene left the state battered, bruised, and in many places, powerless—literally. As if Mother Nature decided to pull the plug on civilization, more than 8% of households have been plunged into a blackout. And the storm’s toll is nothing short of gut-wrenching: 11 lives lost and over 1,000 people still missing in Buncombe County alone.
Governor Roy Cooper didn’t sugarcoat it, calling Helene “one of the worst storms in modern history.” It’s hard to argue when entire counties like Polk, McDowell, and Ashe are sitting in complete darkness, cut off from the world. Western North Carolina feels more like a war zone than a peaceful stretch of countryside, with over 400 roads either submerged, torn apart, or completely blocked. The Department of Transportation has pleaded for patience as their crews work tirelessly to restore some semblance of normality. But patience is a tough ask when you’re trying to navigate what feels like a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Duke Energy has offered a flicker of hope, promising to restore power by midnight to some areas—emphasis on “some.” For the hardest-hit regions, even that flicker feels dim. At this rate, people in counties like Henderson, Transylvania, and Rutherford might be waiting much longer before they can flip a switch and actually get a result.
Helene may have left, but its aftermath will linger like an unwelcome guest, forcing North Carolinians to dig deep into their reserves of resilience. Recovery will be a marathon, not a sprint, and for many, the road ahead seems as treacherous as the one they’ve just survived.
