Human connections bring hope in North Carolina after devastation of Helene

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) — Sarah Vekasi is a potter who runs a store in Black Mountain, North Carolina, called Sarah Sunshine Pottery, named after her normally bubbly personality. But these days she’s struggling with the trauma of Hurricane Helene and uncertainty about the future of her business.

“All I can say is that I’m alive. I’m not doing great. I’m not doing good. But I’m extremely grateful to be alive, especially when so many are not,” Vekasi said.

One thing that makes her feel a little better is the fellowship of the daily town meeting at the square.

“It’s incredible being able to meet in person,” said Vekasi, who was cut off by impassible roads for days. At Wednesday’s session more than 150 people gathered as local leaders stood atop a picnic table shouting updates.

In the midst of the devastating destruction left by the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, human connections are giving the survivors hope in western North Carolina. While government cargo planes brought food and water into the hardest-hit areas and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm, whose death toll has topped 180, were leaning on one another.

Martha Sullivan, also at the town meeting, was taking careful notes so she could share the information — roads reopened, progress in getting power restored, work on trying to get water flowing again — with others.

Sullivan, who has lived in Black Mountain for 43 years, said her children invited her to come to Charlotte after the storm, but she wants to stay in her community and look after her neighbors.

“I’m going to stay as long as I feel like I’m being useful,” Sullivan said.

In remote mountain areas, helicopters hoisted the stranded to safety while search crews moved toppled trees so they could look door to door for survivors. In some places, homes teetered on hillsides and washed-out riverbanks.

Nearly a week after the storm, more than 1.1 million customers still had no power in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene struck after barreling over Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane. Deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.

Robin Wynn lost power at her Asheville home early Friday and was able to grab a bag of canned goods and water before getting to a shelter despite water up to her knees.

“I didn’t know where I was going, didn’t know what was going to happen next. But I got out and I’m alive,” Wynn said on Wednesday.

Now that she’s back home, her neighbors have been watching out for one another. Plenty of people have come around to make sure everyone has a hot meal and water, she said.

Eric Williamson, who works at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, normally makes home visits to members who can’t physically get to church. This week, he’s their lifeline, delivering food that meets dietary restrictions and tossing out food that had spoiled.

Beyond checking in on the essentials, he says it’s important to just socialize with folks in a moment like this to help them know they aren’t alone.

He has a handwritten list of everyone he needs to visit. “They don’t have telephone service, even if they have a landline, a lot of that isn’t working,” Williamson said. "So we're bringing them food and water, but also just bringing them a smile and a prayer with them just to give them comfort.”

Volunteers in Asheville gathered on Wednesday before going out to help find people who have been unreachable because of phone and internet outages. They took along boxes of drinking water and instructions to return in person with their results.

Even notifying relatives of people who died in the storm has been difficult.

“That has been our challenge, quite honestly, is no cell service, no way to reach out to next of kin,” said Avril Pinder, an official in Buncombe County where at least 61 people have died. “We have a confirmed body count, but we don’t have identifications on everyone or next-of-kin notifications.”

President Joe Biden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina, getting a firsthand look at the mess left by a storm that now has killed at least 189 people.

Speaking afterwards in Raleigh, North Carolina, Biden praised the Democratic governor of North Carolina and the Republican governor of South Carolina for their responses to the storm, saying that in the wake of disasters, “we put politics aside.”

“Our job is to help as many people as we can as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can," he said.

That includes a commitment from the federal government to foot the bill for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months. The money will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and will cover costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters, and mass feeding.

“We’re not leaving until you’re back on your feet completely,” Biden said.

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to neighboring Georgia, where she said the president had approved a request to pick up the tab for similar emergency aid there for three months.

Biden plans on traveling to disaster areas in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.

Employees at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee who kept working last week until water flooded their parking lot and power went out at the plant were among those killed. The floodwaters swept 11 workers away, and only five were rescued. Two are confirmed dead.

Tennessee state authorities said they are investigating the company that owns the factory after some employees said they weren’t allowed to leave in time to avoid the storm’s impact.

Hospitals and health care organizations in the Southeast mostly stayed open despite dealing with blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding. Many hospitals halted elective procedures, while only a few closed completely.

In Florida, officials were turning to “low-risk” state prisoners to help clear the mountains of debris left behind.

“Department of Corrections, they do prison labor anyways. So they’re bringing them to do debris removal,” Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Wednesday.

Verduzco reported from Swannanoa, North Carolina, and Peterson from Hendersonville, North Carolina. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Colleen Long in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kate Payne in Madiera Beach, Fla.; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland; and Cedar Attanasio and Jim Mustian in New York.

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows flooding from Hurricane Helene by the North Toe River and downtown in Spruce Pine, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows damage from Hurricane Helene in Old Fort, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows flooding by the North Toe River and market damage from Hurricane Helene in Spruce Pine, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows the town in McDowell County before storm damage occurred in 2024 from Hurricane Helene in Old Fort, N.C., Jan. 7, 2022. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows mud and debris near Old Fort Elementary School, damage from Hurricane Helene in Old Fort, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

President Joe Biden talks with Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, as he arrives at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, S.C., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, to survey damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Marine One, with President Joe Biden on board, flies around areas impacted by Hurricane Helene over Asheville, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Contents of a home are piled on the side of a home after flooding from Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

Contents of homes line the streets after flooding from Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Reddington Shores, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

Resident Anne Schneider, right, hugs her friend Eddy Sampson as they survey damage left in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Marshall, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Damaged to one of the White family's homes that was destroyed by Hurricane Helene is seen, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 in Morganton, N.C. The adjacent Catawba River flooded due to torrential rains destroying seven of the family's nine homes on the property. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

Vehicles and debris that were caught in a flash flood from Hurricane Helene rest on the side of the road near the Swannanoa River, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Train tracks washed out during Hurricane Helene run along the French Broad River, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Marshall, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Eva Markowitz stands covered in mud left by Hurricane Helene as she works to clean up Zadie's Market and Deli Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Marshall, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A person carries bags of fresh water after filling up from a tanker at a distribution site in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

FILE - Brian McCormack pauses after using a wheelbarrow to clean up debris left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Oct. 1, 2024, in Marshall, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Loaves & Fishes food group serve meals for residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Lake Lure, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A destroyed mobile home and vehicles lay scattered across muddy land, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hendersonville, N.C., in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

People ride in the back of a pickup truck on a mud-covered street left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Marshall, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Debris is strewn on the lake in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Lake Lure, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

FILE - A passerby checks the water depth of a flooded road, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Morganton, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek, File)

Ever since the assassination attempt at his rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump has professed a unique fondness for a bar chart he credits for saving his life.

Trump was addressing the crowd in Butler about illegal immigration and reviewing a chart that detailed U.S.-Mexico border crossings during his administration and President Joe Biden's term. He had his head turned to the right to review the graphic on a projection screen when the gunfire began. One bullet nicked his right ear, coming millimeters from maiming or killing him.

He has said having his head turned “probably saved my life,” adding at times that he loves the chart “more than I even love the police” and saying he will “sleep with that chart for the rest of my life.” He has made it a recurring campaign prop and is likely to show it again when he returns to Butler on Saturday.

The chart helps the Republican presidential nominee connect an iconic moment from his 2024 campaign to his signature issue since he entered politics. It also is representative of how the Trump campaign has addressed immigration, making a strident argument for tougher border measures while erasing or misstating key parts of his record.

Here are more details about the chart and how Trump has used it along the campaign trail.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said he was aboard Trump’s plane in April to hitch a ride from an Easter family holiday in Florida to campaign events in the Midwest. While on the flight, Johnson showed Trump the chart, which depicts a dramatic increase in encounters with migrants at the southern border using statistics that are tallied by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Trump asked Johnson to send it to his communications team, which changed the title, description and edited some of the annotations, to begin rolling it out that same day at an event with law enforcement officers in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At that event, Trump referred to people in the U.S. illegally who are suspected of committing crimes as “animals.”

“It’s obvious what the Biden administration has done in that chart. It shows what Trump had to deal with and how he successfully dealt with it," Johnson said in an interview. "And then it shows just the explosion of illegal immigration under President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris.”

Border crossings hit record highs during the Biden administration but have fallen since Biden instituted a curb on asylum claims by executive order earlier this year.

The Harris campaign blames Trump for pressuring Republicans in Congress not to support a bipartisan border security package that Democrats say would have helped fix a broken immigration system.

The Border Patrol has tallied about 7.1 million arrests of people crossing illegally from Mexico from the start of the Biden administration through July, but many of those arrests were repeat crossers. Trump regularly hammers Biden and Harris for allowing record-high numbers, often claiming without evidence that the figure is upwards of 30 million.

The chart notes policies Trump instituted such as “Remain in Mexico,” a program that makes asylum seekers wait south of the border that Biden halted when he took office. The policies are intended to show Trump drove down border crossings during his term.

The description of the chart says “Biden world record illegal immigrants, many from prisons and mental institutions,” a claim Trump usually makes in rallies even though there is no evidence countries are sending their criminals or mentally ill across the border.

The graphic incorrectly identifies the month Trump left office, marking it as if it had happened during the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic prompted travel restrictions and vastly lowered the number of arrivals. Prior to the pandemic, the Trump administration struggled to manage large influxes of migrants, too.

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, showed the chart recently at a hearing in Congress to point out this error.

“It’s important to note and to point out how incorrect it actually is,” he said, as he pointed out that border encounters had started to trend upwards in the months that followed and while Trump was still in office.

The chart also leaves out what perhaps was Trump’s most controversial immigration policy. Between 2017 and 2018, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself halted under pressure from his own party.

Trump rarely talks about family separation. Last weekend, Trump claimed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents.

The former president has pledged to conduct the largest mass deportation operation, prioritizing migrants with criminal records. Trump has said he could rely on like-minded governors to provide National Guard support to carry out deportations.

The chart was displayed on numerous screens on stage during his Republican National Convention speech less than a week after the Butler rally.

“The last time I put up that chart, I never really got to look at it,” he said. “But without that chart, I would not be here today.”

Trump also took the chart on his recent border visit to Arizona, displaying it on a piece of paper as he spoke from a podium below a desert hill. He has been using it increasingly more since the assassination attempt, often retelling the story of how it saved his life.

Johnson says he is happy to have played "a small little role."

“Either the hand of God or just plain serendipity is why he avoided being assassinated, quite honestly," he said. “That's just the historical fact now.”

He wouldn't say if Trump has mentioned anything about the chart to him since the assassination attempt. “Those are private conversations,” he said.

FILE - Supporters look at a graphic on the screen as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Ed Fry Arena, Sept. 23, 2024, in Indiana, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event, Sept. 29, 2024, in Erie, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)