GRAHAM, N.C. — Helping the mountains recover from the wrath of Helene has required a statewide response. Some of those included first responders from other agencies pitching in, like Graham Fire Engineer Daniel Holt.
Holt deployed to Buncombe County, home to Asheville, on Sept. 27. He spent four days there before returning home to his wife and newborn son.
Everyone in the state likely feels a personal tie to the horrors caused by the storm. It runs deeper for Holt, who worked as a firefighter in Buncombe County years ago.
"It kind of wrenches on your heart a little bit to know that I probably know some of those people," Holt said.
As of Thursday, Oct. 3 afternoon, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller (D) said 72 people there have now died from the storm.
One of them is Battalion Chief Tony Garrison from the Fairview Fire Department. Holt said they knew each other from his time out west.
"There's a lot of sadness and despair right now," Holt said.
The images from the mountains paint an apocalyptic scene in a normally picturesque landscape. Holt described seeing cars and homes washed away. He said roads were missing.
Amid all the darkness, Holt found light by seeing old friends he served with and working toward a greater good.
"You're there for a sad purpose because somebody's home is destroyed or people are missing, but it's still, you know, you're there helping," Holt said. "You're there for your brother. You've got their back."
The Graham Fire Department has a team in Buncombe and will send a new crew out on Friday. Holt said he'll return either as part of a new rotation or on his own. The area means too much to him to watch the chaos unfold from afar.
Holt shared an easy ask for anyone unsure of how to help: "Pray for those people. If you see those people, any of those people, that have been affected, love on those people. Be kind."
Across the Southeast, CBS News now reports at least 200 people died in the storm. That makes it the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina hammered the Gulf Coast in 2005.