Helene

Two months ago, Hurricane Helene devastated the North Carolina mountains and claimed at least 103 lives, but governmental organizations have declined to publicly identify any victims.

Boone’s ordinance that guides land use and buildings did not have an exemption for temporary structures for relief efforts. So town officials last week came together to propose changes to those guidelines.

​​​​​​​As post-Helene recovery efforts continue, state Department of Transportation workers remain busy reconstructing Interstate 40 along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. That roughly 9-mile stretch of highway could reopen as soon as next month.

Even with Helene’s massive rains, most of the mountain counties and Piedmont are under abnormally dry conditions.

The top official for North Carolina's efforts to rebuild communities after natural disasters is no longer working in the position just a few days after a scathing rebuke of her work from GOP state lawmakers.

The White House's Christmas tree is slated to be cut and transported from a North Carolina farm on Wednesday. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm is located in Avery County, North Carolina. It was one of the hardest-hit counties from Hurricane Helene just a few months before.

North Carolina Republicans are voicing frustration over how the state is still struggling to recover from two hurricanes that ravaged the region long before Hurricane Helene hit in September. The issues bubbled to the surface Monday during a legislative committee hearing about a budget shortfall in the state Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

Asheville experienced an outage of water following Hurricane Helene. The storm created high sediment levels at the North Fork Reservoir which provides about 80% of the system’s water supply.