In the midst of the destruction left by the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, human connections give survivors hope.

At least 157 people have died in six states as a result of the storm, and many are still unaccounted for. As Thursday began in the mountain towns of western North Carolina, it remained a challenge to get through washed-out roads and across crumbled bridges — meaning crews were still trying to reach remote areas devastated by Helene.

W hen Hurricane HELENE hit Florida’s Big Bend on September 26th it was hard to imagine that it would wreak the most devastation over 400 miles north in the Appalachian mountains. Officials report that flooding across the Southeast has killed about 200 people,