Travel in and out of much of Western North Carolina is nearly impossible after heavy rains and flooding battered the state in the path of Hurricane Helene.

The death toll from Helene climbed as emergency responders rushed to rescue residents in small mountain towns that have been cut off from communication.

The Southeast is grappling with widespread devastation after Helene made landfall Thursday as the strongest hurricane on record to slam into Florida’s Big Bend region and tore through multiple states,

Federal and state officials are rushing to airlift supplies to battered mountain communities in western North Carolina, where the storm left behind damaged water systems, washed-out roads and downed power lines.