Lifelong North Carolina resident details devastation from Helene: 'We need so much help'
Mistie Cogbill, a resident of Black Mountain, joins 'America's Newsroom' to share her experience in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
One North Carolina educator issued an emotional plea for help as her community and surrounding towns have been left in shambles following the catastrophic Hurricane Helene.
Mistie Cogbill, a teacher and lifelong resident of Black Mountain, joined "America's Newsroom" for a tear-jerking interview to shed light on how much assistance the Asheville area needs after the historic storm hit last week, which prompted deadly flooding and landslides.
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"We've seen our friends and neighbors lose their homes," Cogbill told Dana Perino on Wednesday. "We've seen classrooms of children who... no longer have their homes. We are hunting for teachers. We have 23 teachers out of our list that we haven't been able to find. I've been a teacher in Black Mountain for 25 years. I've been a resident there for 48, and we've never experienced anything like this."
"School is out indefinitely, and that was where many of our families received food, services like their therapy, their physical therapy, their speech therapy. It was their community," she continued. "When we're talking about little children who have only experienced the pandemic and then had one month of normalcy to their lives and then now this, it's just devastating."
Mistie Cogbill, a lifelong resident of Black Mountain, joins 'America's Newsroom' to share her experience in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. (Mistie Cogbill)
Communities in western North Carolina were hit especially hard by the effects of Hurricane Helene, with catastrophic flooding destroying hundreds of roads and bridges. Access to several areas has been cut off, preventing crews from getting much-needed supplies like food, water and fuel to residents.
More than 70 people are now confirmed dead in North Carolina, and hundreds of people remain unaccounted for due to the lack of power and communication access.
"There's no road. My cousin lost her house," Cogbill said. "They're feeding the fire department, and they're working together because… a community is not buildings. A community's heart is in its people, and we're all working together… As you can see, the destruction is just overwhelming."
At least 170 people have been confirmed dead in six states – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. That number is expected to rise as first responders continue to search for survivors and gain access to communities that were isolated after the flooding.
Perino asked Cogbill what message she had for the Biden administration before officials surveyed the heartbreaking destruction.
"We need so much help. We don't want to be forgotten," Cogbill pleaded. "Our communities all hold hands with each other. Black Mountain and Swannanoa's children go to school together. We're not separate... We need things like baby formula, baby food, pet supplies. We need outreach."
"We have a group of nurses who are off duty that are setting up a medical station at First Baptist Church, and we're trying to do the best we can, but we just need help," she continued.
Helene is now the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland U.S. in the last 55 years, topped only by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the most since Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast in August 1969.
FOX Weather's Steven Yablonski and Emilee Speck contributed to this report.
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