BAT CAVE, N.C. — It’s been one year since Hurricane Helene tore through Bat Cave in Henderson County. Roads washed away, homes destroyed, and families stranded — the storm left this mountain town isolated and struggling to recover.

For Samantha Smith, the storm’s impact was immediate and terrifying. With rising waters cutting off every road, she says her only option was a paddle boat.

"There was a paddle boat that came downstream and we took the paddle boat and crossed the river that way with ropes because we have dogs, my granddaughter. There were other neighbors over there that wouldn't go across the river, so, we were trying to help them get across, but they all got evacuated out by the helicopters."

Fire Chief Steve Freeman still remembers the storm’s devastation — and the lives l

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