Seven weeks after Hurricane Helene damaged parts of the southeast, students in one western North Carolina county are still out of school.

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.

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.”

This year’s official White House Christmas tree comes from western North Carolina, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Helene in late September.

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.

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.