A year after Hurricane Helene, Florida and the southern Appalachians still bear the scars

With homes still full of sand and broken roads waiting to be built, Florida and the southern Appalachians haven't yet fully recovered from Hurricane Helene's wrath.

It's been a year since Hurricane Helene flooded the southern Appalachians after tearing into Florida's Big Bend as a Category 4 storm. Helene's wrath was measured by staggering numbers that had never before been recorded. This spring, the World Meteorological Organization retired the name "Helene," but parts of the South still aren't back to normal.

The recovery from the storm has been one of milestones. Parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway are still closed after Helene caused 57 landslides on the scenic byway last September, but an important 26-mile stretch just reopened earlier this month.

Schools in Asheville were closed for up to a month, while some parts of the city didn't have safe drinking water for seven weeks after the storm. It took five months for Interstate 40 on the Tennessee/North Carolina border to be navigable after Helene, and the popular Chimney Rock State Park just reopened in June.

But there have been setbacks. Six months later, many residents were still struggling and experiencing PTSD due to the biblical flooding last fall. In January, wildfires ravaged the southern Appalachians, setting parts of the forest ablaze. After I-40 was opened at the end of February, it had to be temporarily closed again due to flooding in June.

Florida restaurant still serving customers from a tent

In Florida's Big Bend, which took the brunt of Helene's storm surge and high winds, one restaurant destroyed by the storm still hasn't been rebuilt, AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson reports.

At Caddy's restaurant on the beach at Treasure Island, Florida, Hurricane Helene left 6 feet of sand inside the restaurant. Owner Randy Esponda says they had to crawl through wreckage just to drag furniture out. One year later, Caddy's is still in survival mode, serving drinks under a tent with a food truck and bathroom trailer to keep the business going.

Helene's 7-foot storm surge slammed Florida's west coast barrier islands, destroying homes, gutting businesses, and recovery is spotty. Tourism usually pumps billions into the Saint Pete-Clearwater region, but with locals displaced and visitors slow to return, businesses like Caddy's are struggling to stay afloat.

Esponda is betting on a comeback, rebuilding storm-ready so next time they can pack up fast and protect what's inside. Because here, survival isn't about waiting for perfect conditions, it's about adapting, even if that means running a beach bar under a tent.

Northwest North Carolina woman finally moves out of bus

Sherry Housley lost everything when a wall of debris from Hurricane Helene burst into her Yancey County home, leaving it filled with feet of water, cars, mailboxes and even a washing machine.

After months of living in an old school bus, tents and storing belongings in yurts, volunteers from Mountain Heritage High School's carpentry team and Rebuilding Hollers are in the process of building her a new house that Sherry has named "Gracie."

Though she mourns her old home and her lost possessions and heirlooms from her parents and grandparents, Housley says she has gained something far greater: hundreds of new "family members" through the volunteers who have helped her start over.

"I sit here and I just imagine being able to decorate for Christmas this year, and what it will feel like to sit in there and look at the first snow, and just start a new life in my Gracie. It's been a long journey," Housley says.

There is still much work to be done. In Florida, homes are still filled with sand one year after Helene, waiting to be demolished. All over western North Carolina, damaged roads still wait to be rebuilt, now overgrown with weeds, like a scene from a zombie apocalypse movie. Helene's scars will be here for years to come.

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