Hurricane Helene’s physical path of destruction is horrible and widespread: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and even Virginia. Local crews including the Virginia Department of Transportation and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue are on the move trying to help out.
Listening to the stories of those directly impacted by Helene, it’s clear more help is needed.
“It is a dire situation. Even in nice neighborhoods where everyone’s pulling together, it’s getting sketchier by the minute and people are really scared,” said Erin Derham.
Derham and her husband, Matt Van Swol, live just north of Asheville, North Carolina and made it to Charlotte. She says crime is now a concern. They also talk about a shortage of baby food, gas, water and little to no cellular communication.
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“No one knows how to get out either,” Van Swol said. “We sent someone ahead of us because we just got so much conflicting information around the routes that were able to get out, which roads were washed away.”
Crew members from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue and Maryland task force one have been flying helicopters to help.
On the ground, the task force often does not know what the road around the corner will look like.
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VDOT trucks are also on the move with digging equipment and chainsaws in tow.
Ellen Kamilakis with VDOT says there’s plenty to clean up, even in Southwest Virginia.
“I mean, you think about this is probably the worst day of somebody’s life,” Kamilakis said. “And I think it’s along that same line that you’re seeing where Asheville is, and where horrible, horrible devastation that we are seeing in North Carolina. We’re very fortunate that we haven’t seen that level of devastation, but it still does impact those communities down there.”
For now, the DMV region keeps trying to answer urgent pleas for help as the cleanup from this monster of a storm continues.
