Year after Helene: Western North Carolina family still rebuilding
A Burnsville family displaced by Hurricane Helene remains in a donated camper a year later as volunteers push recovery forward.
It has almost been a year since Hurricane Helene downgraded to a tropical storm and moved through Western North Carolina, destroying more than 74,000 homes and causing about $60 billion in damages, according to the governor's office. The Keele family lost their home, a car and their jobs in the storm's wake. They now live in a donated camper on a property in Burnsville, adjacent to other relatives, after Helene sent roughly four feet of floodwater through their residence on Sept. 27, 2024.
Amiyah Keele described the past 12 months as a constant process of rebuilding. She said the family waded through the floodwaters and sought safety with neighbors for nearly a week. In the days that followed, the region faced outages: no cellphone service, no electricity, and no running water.
Volunteers and nonprofit groups mobilized within days. About a week after the flood, a distribution site opened a couple miles down the road from the Keele property; the family walked there regularly to help and to collect supplies. For nearly a month, they lived in tents as recovery operations moved forward.
During the recovery, volunteers donated a car and generators to the Keele family, and a heater provided warmth for sleeping in a tent. Not long afterward, a nonprofit provided a donated camper, though it lacked power or water at first, which the family found an improvement over tents. They also received sheds to store belongings, while damaged appliances and furniture remained outside the home.
Samaritan's Purse mucked out the house and stayed involved with the family, helping with cleanup and providing light moments for the children amid the chaos.
A wooden sign hanging in the donated camper reads that this is "not Home Sweet Home…ADJUST!" and the Keele family says the words have taken on new meaning as they work toward stability. The sign has traveled with them for years and has become a quiet reminder of resilience amid ongoing displacement.
Jessica Keele said the family is doing better than some others in the region, but Amiyah noted they are still struggling. The recovery illustrates the ongoing needs in rural North Carolina communities facing climate-driven extremes and the long path to rebuilding homes, livelihoods and routines after major storms.