As the Black Hawk helicopter slowly descends in Ramseytown, North Carolina, a plume of sand kicks up. When the dust settles, the sprawling sea of stones and twisted metal beams becomes clear.Several people gather near Byrd’s Chapel Baptist Church, watching National Guard members carry out essentials for them. The muddy embankment they stand on is sloughing off into the murky Cane River that divides them from the aid they need. The area is unrecognizable from what it was before Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina last month. Google Street View images taken in April show a grassy field where the rubble now sits, as well as a bridge connecting the area to the homes and the church across the stream.A man on the other side hops into an inflatable boat and pulls himself with a yellow rope stretched across the river to grab the supplies — it’s the only way …
National Guard members who deployed to western North Carolina are still carrying out aid missions nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene [Video]
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