As Milton approaches Florida, a search for the missing continues in Helene's path

SWANNANOA, N.C. ‒ Roy Shelton watched as the Swannanoa River rose to the base of the house his family has lived in for 60 years, which sits on a hill.

From his porch, Shelton, 73, saw whole tractor trailers, brand new cars and things he "can't even say" sweep down the normally tranquil river, which turned violent by Tropical Storm Helene, which slammed into Western North Carolina Sept. 27. Eleven days later, the retired Swannanoa resident still sat on his porch as the sound of helicopters could be heard overhead and search and rescue crews were "everywhere," as he put it.

"I was born and raised here, and I never would have thought that I would see the Swannanoa River be that violent," Swannanoa Fire Chief Anthony Penland said in an Oct. 8 briefing.

Driving through water reaching the doors of their firetrucks, Swannanoa Fire and Rescue workers started rescuing residents from the rising floodwaters Sept. 27, Penland said. They blew sirens and played evacuation messages in Spanish and English over the PA system, warning of the incoming flood.

"We are still actively searching the river and the debris piles with our task force units that have been assigned to us, and we are still finding some of our citizens," Penland said. "But for those of us who were born and raised here, some of these folks are going to be our friends."

Penland mentioned a landslide in the Grovemont community, which "took two people that I knew personally."

He said first responders are making sure "we turn over every stone" to find anyone who may be missing.

On Saturday, the USA TODAY Network analysis of Helene deaths increased to 228.

Meanwhile, the 2024 hurricane season rages on as another devastating storm is making its way toward Florida. Highways grew clogged, gas stations were running out of fuel and stores were stripped of necessities as Hurricane Milton roared toward Florida's beleaguered west coast on Wednesday.

More:Swannanoa residents living 'day by day, hour by hour' after Helene

Searches and rescues continue: no update on fatalities

The fire chief said he doesn't have an official count of Helene-related deaths in Swannanoa. When his team locates someone, they call in the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, which then takes over, Penland said.

Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller confirmed first responders are still conducting search and rescue operations in the county, adding that "there have been areas we haven't been able to get to." Now using helicopters and other resources, first responders are "trying to get to those areas," though Miller declined to say where.

Miller said about 150 personnel from just about every of the 100 counties in North Carolina have come to help throughout the Sheriff's Office's entire operation, from search and rescues to dispatches and day-to-day calls. One sheriff sent a helicopter to assist with rescues.

The last time Miller updated the number of fatalities in the county was in an Oct. 3 briefing, with 72 confirmed deaths. The next day, county spokesperson Lillian Govus said a local team of North Carolina State Medical Examiners was being set up, adding that "our medical examiner is suspending outgoing information about the loss of life" in Buncombe County.

The Citizen Times reached out to the N.C. Emergency Management and N.C. Division of Health and Human Services for an update on Helene-related deaths in Buncombe County.

A long path forward: neighbors helping neighbors

Penland said his goal is to make sure that "our small communities" are not left out when relief and assistance starts coming in. He said FEMA has been in the community going door-to-door. Shelton said they came and spoke to him on his porch that day.

The fire chief described a long path forward for the small-town east of Asheville, for which they are going to need help, he said: Bridges are washed out. The roads aren't there. The road and infrastructure in Bee Tree community has to be rebuilt.

From his family home, Shelton said "everybody has been helping everybody, even ones that lost everything."

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. She is a graduate of Indiana University and was the Citizen Times Summer News Reporting Intern in 2022.

Contributing: John Bacon and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY