It was the regionality and subject matter but also the steel underneath the quiet tale that called it to mind when I spoke to Jennifer Greene, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association recently,

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation estimate that a portion of I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge will be open to traffic by the start of the new year.

( NewsNation) — North Carolina Hurricane Helene victims are struggling and feeling forgotten as winter approaches. Temperatures are dropping, and many hurricane survivors are living in tents or trailers without insulation. More than 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene across Western North Carolina.

A 63-year-old woman, Patricia Mahoney of Southern Pines, North Carolina, died after driving around a barricade and off a hurricane-damaged stretch of Interstate 40 that had been severely eroded by Hurricane Helene.

Phil Miles, 76, a regular Muni golfer who before Helene played weekly, was back at the course for the first time Nov. 7. He was out of town when the storm reached WNC, and said even from afar, watching the devastation was “heartbreaking.”

The benefit concert put on by the North Carolina Folk Festival at the Steven Tanger Center on Nov. 7 raised over $40,000 for Hurricane Helene relief, according to a press release sent out Tuesday. The event featured performances from western North Carolina-based bands Steep Canyon Rangers and the Holler Choir.

Heavy rain fell across parts of western North Carlina on Thursday for the first time since the devastating flooding event from Hurricane Helene and many continue to rebuild their homes.