‘Long and Difficult’ Recovery Ahead in N.C.

The storm may be over, but the cataclysmic flooding and power outages that Hurricane Helene unleashed have left university campuses across western North Carolina in shambles and many students disconnected from their families. Elisa Kiser Kennemer was lucky enough to have received a text from her son Cole, a student at Appalachian State University, when she posted a Facebook update for friends and family Saturday. But that one message was all she had. She later confirmed that his apartment and car were on high ground so they’d been spared major damage, but she still had not heard his voice.