AVERY COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The first snow of the season is happening in western North Carolina. The beautiful sight comes almost two months after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
The flooding and landslides from the hurricane killed more than 100 people in western North Carolina and left families without their homes.
The Avery County Sheriff says there are no shelters open currently in the county, so people whose homes were demolished or damaged are forced to stay in hotels.
Ashley Gentry, a mom in the Pineola community of Avery County, and her family can’t stay in her home because of the damage from Helene.
Everything under the blue tarps represents something Gentry was able to save.
“The water was coming over the bridges and the roads, and when we got out of the house, it was ankle-deep,” said Gentry.
That was almost two months ago when the river rose from Hurricane Helene and dumped a foot and a half of water in Gentry’s house.
“No one (is) telling us to come and evacuate or nothing. We just had to get out on our own,” said Gentry.
Gentry got her kids, her parents, and her sister, plus two dogs and a cat and got out.
Now they’re living in a hotel away from home.
“It’s just nerve-wracking; there’s not any words to explain it—just being out of place—it’s just hard,” said Gentry.
They spent Thursday moving furniture from under the tarps to inside the home to keep it safe from the snow.
“Everybody has supplied a lot and (is) trying to get our house back together,” said Gentry.
They can’t stay in their home right now.
“It’s just hard, but we got to pray to Him that he’ll get us through it,” said Gentry.
The insulation and sheetrock had to be gutted.
“I know people’s got it worse than we do; some people’s lost their lives through this, and luckily we made it,” said Gentry.
They’ll rebuild, but right now they have all that matters.
“As long as we’ve got a roof over our head and family and animals, we’ll get through it,” said Gentry.
An official from the French Broad Electric power company based in Marshall said they are concerned about the strong winds expected as the cold and snow move in and the risk of the power they just recently restored after the hurricane being knocked out again.
