Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby reported live from western North Carolina on Oct. 24 as recovery and relief efforts continued across the region.
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00:00He has been working to help victims impacted by Hurricane Helene, and he joins us live from Asheville, North Carolina
00:06Aaron you're what three days into this trip here back in Asheville three or four days
00:10How are things going a lot of roads are still closed you mentioned that access to some of these smaller communities still very difficult
00:18Yeah, good evening Jeff that's exactly exactly correct you can see behind me
00:22This is one of those closed roadways in Asheville, North Carolina, but before I was back here
00:27I actually went up back into the mountains along the
00:31Burnsville area and eventually down into spruce pines and a lot of those areas are still dealing with a lot of that cleanup effort
00:38That's been going on
00:38But I tell you one thing that has been great about today and reminds me why I love doing my job is the amount of
00:44Positivity that comes after the storms despite all of the destruction
00:48There are messages and signs all up and down the downtown district of spruce pines, North Carolina with positive
00:55Messages saying that they are going to be back
00:57And I actually got introduced to one of the business owners there that creates hats and has an open bar there
01:02And their first day to reopen is actually today
01:05And you know how we've been helping out with the clothing and the warm clothes
01:08And I figure what better way to help out today than supporting a local business
01:11I was able to scoop up one of those hats and their faces lit up like a Christmas tree around the holidays
01:16So it's really a really really cool way to help out some of these smaller communities up in the Appalachian Mountains
01:21That's really good there Aaron amazing footage to see the high-water mark
01:25I love the messages that accompany some of that we will rise higher than that high-water mark there in spruce pine, North Carolina
01:32So Aaron as you continue your journeys there
01:35Have you distributed all the clothing that you brought or do you have more work to do in that regard?
01:39What's your plan for the rest of the week?
01:43Well, I definitely still have some more work to do
01:45I've been trying to spread out the clothing as far and wide as possible
01:48especially with these communities that are up in the mountains and I've been in contact with some folks that are going to try and
01:53Get me access to some of these mountain houses where people are still stranded due to the roads being washed out
01:58They've had to hand over the goods across the creek and river
02:01So I'm going to try and get in contact with them this week
02:03Make my way up there and get that last bit of warm clothing out there
02:07So those folks can prepare for the cold months ahead
02:10Alright, we appreciate all your reporting there and all that you're doing to help people who are in an awful situation
02:15There Aaron Rigsby reporting live from Asheville, North Carolina as the recovery continues now a month after hurricane
02:22Helene brought that devastating flooding. Thanks again, Aaron and
02:25Damien as we move forward here, the weather's been very cooperative, you know
02:29It's been nearly perfect here for the recovery most days since the the flooding
02:34That's right
02:35Jeff because normally what happens after a hurricane moves through a once in generation type of devastating storm is you will get an area of
02:41High-pressure immediately following it to allow the atmosphere to kind of equalize a little bit
02:45But then after that over the next five six days, we'll start to get more and more waves of showers
02:51Thunderstorms strong winds, but since Helene has made its way through this area
02:56We haven't seen anything like that high pressure has dominated the forecast and we're still seeing sunny skies and light winds