He wrote farewell notes on his cellphone to his two children and his two grandchildren as his garage and other debris floated past. “We didn’t think we were going to make it at all,” Bright said.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Western North Carolina on Friday to visit locals impacted by Hurricane Helene in late September.

Just because you don’t see somebody in a FEMA shirt walking on the streets the day after a disaster doesn’t mean FEMA is not there.”