Some students never returned to school after NC hurricane

SWANNANOA, N.C. — When Natalie Briggs visited the ruins of her home months after Hurricane Helene , she had to walk across a wooden beam to reach what was once her bedroom.

Knots of electrical wires were draped inside the skeleton of the house. Light filtered through breaks in the tarps over the windows.

"All I could think of was, 'This isn't my house,'" said Natalie, now 13, who was staying in her grandparents' basement.

Thousands of North Carolina students lost their homes a year ago when Helene hit with some of the most vicious floods, landslides and wind ever seen in the state's Appalachian region. Across the state, more than 2,500 students were identified as homeless as a direct result of Helene, according to state data.

At school, Natalie sometimes had panic attacks when she