A year after Hurricane Helene, Florida and the southern Appalachians still bear the scars

It's been a year since Hurricane Helene flooded the southern Appalachians after tearing into Florida's Big Bend as a Category 4 storm. Helene's wrath was measured by staggering numbers that had never before been recorded. This spring, the World Meteorological Organization retired the name " Helene ," but parts of the South still aren't back to normal.

The recovery from the storm has been one of milestones. Parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway are still closed after Helene caused 57 landslides on the scenic byway last September, but an important 26-mile stretch just reopened earlier this month.

Schools in Asheville were closed for up to a month, while some parts of the city didn't have safe drinking water for seven weeks after the storm. It took five months for Interstate 40 on t