Rowan County first responders reflect on Helene deployments 1 year later

In the days following Helene’s arrival in the Carolinas, some of the first videos and photos from officials on the ground in Western North Carolina could be found on Rowan County Sheriff Travis Allen’s social media accounts. The surreal images were some of the first indications of the scope of the storm’s impacts, showing washed-out roads, Chinook helicopters evacuating stranded people and endless piles of muddy debris alongside damaged homes and businesses.