North Carolina reeling from devastating Helene as death toll climbs: 'Never seen anything quite like this'

North Carolina residents are detailing how their communities have been "decimated" by Hurricane Helene's historic storm surge as hundreds remain unaccounted for. 

Swannanoa resident Zach Dasher said his town, located just 10 miles east of hard-hit Asheville, endured "complete devastation" as the death toll from the storm continues to climb. 

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"Our little town here has just been absolutely decimated," Dasher told "Fox & Friends First" co-host Carley Shimkus on Tuesday. 

"I'm talking about not only have the buildings gone on one side of the road, the ground that the building sat on is no longer there. It's complete devastation. Lots of people lost their lives. Folks from our church that were helping rescue people out of the floods, they saw people lose their lives… We don't have a final count or anything like that… It's devastating."

"I've never seen anything quite like this," he continued. "Bridges, infrastructure, it's just destroyed… It's going to take years to build this back."

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.

Dozens of people are now confirmed dead in North Carolina, and hundreds of people remain unaccounted for due to the lack of power and communication access.

Appalachian State University student Dana Lheureux said her apartment building was hit by a tree during the severe wind gusts Friday morning, and if it had hit the other side of the building, it would have fallen into her bedroom. 

A van in floodwaters near the Biltmore Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night in Florida's Big Bend with winds up to 140 mph. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

"The hurricane hitting us was devastating. None of us expected to be hit as bad as we were," Lheureux told Trace Gallagher during "Fox News @ Night" on Monday. "The tree went through my building at 6 a.m. on Friday morning. And yeah, I live on the other side of the building and if the tree had fallen on my side of the building, the tree would have gone through my bedroom."

"Fortunately enough, everyone survived and we are all okay, but it was devastating," she continued. "I have friends that lost their apartments, their cars, all of their belongings… The town of Boone is devastated. We've never experienced anything like this… As a community, we're doing our best to band together and to support everyone that's gone through this disaster."

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There are at least 128 people confirmed dead across six states since the hurricane made landfall on Thursday – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. 

A passerby checks the water depth of a flooded road, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Morganton, North Carolina. Torrential rain from Hurricane Helene left many area streets flooded. In addition, traffic lights are inoperable due to no power, with downed power lines and trees. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

Widespread power outages persist across the region, although some progress has been made in restoring critical infrastructure damaged by Helene. 

While power outages have fallen below 2 million for the first time since the storm, approximately 1.6 million homes and businesses remain without electricity in the hardest-hit states as of Tuesday. 

Dasher, who is already working to coordinate relief efforts with a children's shelter, urged other local churches and the federal government to get involved as the community begins to pick up the pieces from the historic, life-changing storm. 

"I'm hoping that the churches in this area are going to step up. I hope donations will pour in. I hope that the government will come in with a large financial aid package to help," Dasher said. "Because here's the deal… This isn't like a flood that comes up and then goes back down and you go muck everything out and go back to work."

"Our infrastructure has been severely damaged or destroyed, and so there's going to be a ton of rebuilding just to get commerce back, just to get where kids can get to school," he continued. "I don't know how long this effort's going to last, but I would have to imagine it would be years just because of the devastation."

Biden approved a major disaster declaration for North Carolina over the weekend, and more than 800 Federal Emergency Management Agency staff, along with distribution centers and equipment, have been deployed across the states that were impacted by Helene.

FOX Weather's Steven Yablonski and Emilee Speck contributed to this report. 

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