In remote mountain communities cut off by Helene, communities look to the skies for aid

RAMSEYTOWN, N.C. (AP) — As the Black Hawk helicopter slowly descends in Ramseytown, North Carolina, a plume of sand kicks up. When the dust settles, the sprawling sea of stones and twisted metal beams becomes clear.

Several people gather near Byrd's Chapel Baptist Church, watching National Guard members carry out essentials for them. The muddy embankment they stand on is sloughing off into the murky Cane River that divides them from the aid they need.

The area is unrecognizable from what it was before Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina last month. Google Street View images taken in April show a grassy field where the rubble now sits, as well as a bridge connecting the area to the homes and the church across the stream.

A man on the other side hops into an inflatable boat and pulls himself with a yellow rope stretched across the river to grab the supplies — it's the only way to cross the river now after the bridge crumbled. A red truck mostly submerged in the water is a reminder of that.

“With the landslides and the destruction and everything, it took out most of the bridges along this river,” National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jonathan Behuniak said at the scene. “There's really no access from the outside world.”

National Guard members from across the country are delivering supplies to mountain communities such as Yancey County's Ramseytown that are still difficult to reach. Their varying daily assignments are largely determined by local requests. Guard members often learn their next mission while completing their current task. Two Associated Press journalists boarded a helicopter with the National Guard on Tuesday to accompany them on a day of deliveries to remote North Carolina mountain communities hit hard by Helene. More than 6,000 Guard members have been deployed across the Southeast in Helene's aftermath.

But priorities are also shifting with cold weather approaching. While necessities like food and water are always in demand, the National Guard is also being asked to bring in supplies to help with the fall and winter months.

Jerry Markland, an Avery County resident, has already been through a lot over the past week and half. In his job as a registered nurse, he's helped countless patients while his hospital had no power, water or communications. He trudged through waist-deep mud to help his mother to safety after she injured herself trying to climb over debris to escape her home.

He's also survived a landslide, which came down “like a hand pushing all the trees down the hill,” he said.

“You will never forget the sound of an avalanche of mud coming down the side of your bank when you hear it,” Markland said.

But now he's worried about something else: cold weather. He noted that temperatures are forecast to drop next week. For families who have lost everything — ranging from rivers smashing holes through homes or washing them away in the flooding — the cold weather will be a new burden, Markland said.

He and a few others from Elk Park Christian Church met the Guard members in an adjacent field after the helicopter landed at about 11:00 a.m. to unload. The much-needed cargo included about $6,000 worth of cold weather gear, heaters, camping stoves and other equipment donated from a construction company.

Since Helene hit, the church has become a distribution center for trucks and U-Hauls to deliver supplies to local communities, Markland said. While the National Guard's aid has been a major asset, Markland said, local churches have shouldered much of the burden of disaster relief in the area.

There will be enough time later for “finger-pointing” on how government agencies responded to Helene's devastation, Alex Nelson said. But right now, he's focused on helping people in Banner Elk and surrounding areas. Nelson, himself a retired non-commissioned military officer, has helped lead relief efforts out of the Elk River Airport since last week, traveling from Yadkin County and sleeping in his car.

When the Guard helicopter arrived at 1:06 p.m., the airport was bustling with volunteers organizing goods and loading them in massive totes that serve as community care packages. Volunteers driving trucks and vans deliver about 100 bags daily. Several small airplanes and helicopters flown by locals also jetted off to drop off cargo to communities in need.

The volunteer effort out of Banner Elk is a prime example of “watching America come to work,” Nelson said.

“This area here will not be defined by getting smacked in the mouth,” Nelson said. “What this area will be defined in is what they've done after they got smacked in the mouth.”

In Yancey County's Ramseytown, where the Guard landed next, the air deliveries are essential after Helene rendered most of the winding mountain roads inaccessible.

One of the other ways to deliver aid is by animal power, which is why Kelly Ryan and Racquel Starford traveled from Virginia to help out the isolated community with their three horses and a mule. The pair expect to be in the area for about a week, Starford said, putting in “as many hours on the ground as we can.”

“We're just trying to go where help is needed right now,” Starford said.