Never have I seen such a dramatic increase in flash flooding like we saw there.

When Hurricane Helene hit, North Carolina's rescuers faced challenges they'd never seen before.

We're either going to get flooded or we will be trapped.

Coming up, the hard lessons they learned and how they're training for what comes next.

Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you, who invite you to join them in supporting PBS NC.

This State Lines Special is made possible by generous support from Dogwood Health Trust, a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina, focused on dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities in the 18 counties and the Qualla boundary of Western North Carolina.

One year ago, Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina.

The storm killed 108 people and caused over $60 billion worth of damage.

Last month, we showed you what recovery looks like in real life.

In this special, we're looking at something different.

Helene taught North Carolina a lot about disasters, what worked, what didn't, and how do you get ready for something you've never seen before.

We start in Buncombe County, where Helene exposed how short-staffed fire departments really are, but it also inspired new volunteers and first responders to step up.

When Helene struck, fire departments in Western North Carolina were tested like never before.

In Swannanoa, the storm came so fast that even firefighters themselves had to pull back.

We actually were told about 6 o'clock on that Friday morning that we need to evacuate our station, that we're either going to get flooded or we'll be trapped.

The Swannanoa Fire Department runs on a combination of full-time staff and volunteers.

When Helene hit, both groups carried the burden.

We prepare ourselves for anything and everything, but they stepped up and went days serving their community without even knowing what their homes look like.

This is often the reality of disaster response in North Carolina.

Nearly 70% of the state's firefighters are volunteers, but those numbers are shrinking, down more than 5,000 since 2020.

Natural disasters often make that shortage even worse.

We were told that we could lose 25% of our police, fire, and EMS personnel after a storm like this, and at our department we lost three full-time firefighters.

We have one that's been out for quite some time, and we lost a 34-year veteran who just had enough.

And yet, at the same time, Helene also lit a spark.

Across Buncombe County, new recruits began stepping forward, inspired to serve after the storm.

One of them was Tanner Stewart.

He joined the Swannanoa Fire Department as a volunteer in February.

Now he's going through the academy in hopes of becoming full-time.

During Helene, I was out in Fairview helping one of the most affected areas, and just that sense of helping out the community, helping people in their most desperate time of need, is what made me actually make the push to join the fire department.

It's a familiar story throughout the academy.

Whenever Helene swept through WNC, and I grew up here, born and raised, and seeing all the destruction, seeing everything that I knew kind of be brought down, it really motivated me that I want to be there to help bring it back up.

For Matthew Walters, that calling goes beyond the firehouse.

With a master's degree in finance, he could have pursued any career, but he says the storm reminded him where he was needed the most.

You saw your community really step up for each other, and that's what got me back into it, is I saw the love community and wanted to bring what I can into that.

Keep going, keep going back.

But the fire service isn't only drawing in the young.

Some volunteers answer the call later in life.

One week before Helene hit, Russ Crutchfield had just signed up as a volunteer in Swannanoa.

I was thrown into the fire, literally, just by being here at that time.

I spent just about every day, I think every day, for a couple weeks there at the fire station.

I think there is an age limit, and I'm sure I'm near the top of it in getting into this class, but it's fun for me to be around the younger people and seeing their desire to get involved.

And I kind of wish that I would see more people my age helping out, because there is a need for people like me to be involved.

But keeping volunteers isn't easy.

Burnout, long hours, and the strain of disasters push many to step away.

It's always a challenge.

It's not only just local, it's state and national.

We're seeing volunteerism, not only in the fire service, but across many organizations, United Way, American Red Cross, and all that stuff.

People are just so busy that they just don't have the time to spend.

But hopefully we'll see an influx of that.

We're really promoting it to get people to, "Hey, take a second look at us."

You know, it's a good career, it's a rewarding career, and an opportunity to give back.

And Webb's concerns are common.

Across North Carolina, volunteer firefighter numbers are at their lowest in decades.

Nationwide, the drop has been steady for more than 40 years.

The reasons are many.

Younger families moving away from rural towns, volunteers balancing multiple jobs, and hundreds of hours of training requirements that make it harder to serve.

And when departments can't recruit enough volunteers, dispatchers have to send crews from farther away.

This leads to longer response times and even higher insurance premiums for homeowners.

So this year, state lawmakers launched a study of rural firefighting, looking at recruitment strategies, funding for trucks and equipment, and the toll on firefighters' health.

And statewide recruitment campaigns are also trying to show young people why this work matters.

It's one of those things where the fire department's got a lot of tradition, and so as the older generation moves out, it's our responsibility to make sure that the younger generation knows those traditions and can keep those traditions going.

I try to let people know that it's just the right thing to do.

Serving other people is the right thing to do.

I enjoy putting my uniform on every day and going and serving the people of my community.

And that's kind of the message I want the younger generation to know as well.

This is a great profession.

For recruits like Matthew Walters, that tradition is something he hopes to carry even further into classrooms, where the next generation will decide if they too are ready to answer the call.

I want to go specifically into firefighting education.

A lot of my family are teachers.

A lot of people I care about are teachers.

And I think that's where the seed really starts, is getting kids and showing them that heroism exists, that helping people exists, and making it so that they can strive for it.

Hurricane Helene revealed just how fragile North Carolina's volunteer fire service has become.

But it also revealed something else.

Neighbors from veterans to brand new recruits willing to step forward when it matters the most.

And here with me now is Tracy Mosley.

Tracy is the deputy director of the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs.

Tracy, thanks for joining us today.

Thank you for having me.

We just saw Hurricane Helene and the response out there, the need for volunteer firefighters.

Help us understand from your perspective how these communities depend on these firefighters.

Oh, man, they depend on them wholeheartedly.

I mean, without them, I don't know where we'd be.

This event really paid an impact on the western part of the state, as everyone knows.

But just being a volunteer, having those volunteers that actually went out and spent their time helping those that were in need to recover, it's just remarkable.

Help me understand, I'm not going to age you here, but help me understand how volunteer firefighting may have changed since when you first started.

Well, you just aged me.

But it's funny that I was just thinking about that on the way up here.

Back when I first started, there was like 35 people that were on the roster.

And if you were interested in getting on the fire department, you had to wait until someone got off the fire department before you could get on.

Now it's totally different.

There are departments now that literally don't have enough people to keep the doors open.

Years ago, we could handle a structure fire, a house fire, with one department, maybe two.

Now we're dispatching four departments to that structure fire just so we can get the right amount of people there to help handle the emergency.

What does that do?

That pulls away from other communities.

So we've seen things change.

Helene, as tragic as that was, and I mean, we know, but Helene has got people where they want to help, they want to get back into service, they want to devote their time to help their community because they've been helped by so many.

So that's help.

What we've got to do is figure out a way that we can keep that momentum going, not with a disaster, but just by good marketing and good leadership within our departments.

And what other support systems do you believe need to be in place in order to further help these volunteer fire departments?

Just thinking off the top of my head and going with what people have talked about across the state, if we can just do better marketing.

There are people that they want to volunteer, people want to do this, they just don't understand what it takes to do it.

They can ride by a fire station and they know the name of the fire station, just as this one says Silver Lake Volunteer Fire Department, but they don't associate the word volunteer with it.

They can come and knock on the door and ask, can I be a member?

So we've got to do a better job of marketing the fire service.

And we've also got to open our doors and let people in and let them know that there is a place for them if they want to volunteer.

I mean, not everyone has to be a per se firefighter to actually go inside a burning structure and fight that fire.

I mean, we need people, we need teachers for fire prevention.

Fire prevention and going out and telling people how they can prevent fires is a firefighter.

We need people that deal with management, financial managers, people that deal with money, to come in and help departments with their budget.

The fire chief doesn't need this on his or her shoulders all the time.

We need help from outside of the community that can come in and deliver their expertise to help us be a better organization.

So we've got to market better.

We've got to let people know that they're welcome here and that there is room for them if they would like to volunteer.

So what kind of individuals are you all looking for?

Anyone.

Anyone.

I mean, seriously, anyone that's interested that wants to give back to their community, we'd love to have them.

You mentioned marketing.

What are some ways you can market to the younger generation to get them involved in firefighting or even volunteer firefighting?

Actually, David, we're doing that now.

That's a great question.

We have programs within our high schools all across the state, getting them ready, getting them certified ahead of time so that when they do reach the age, then they could come on board.

And the junior firefighter program has been a great success within our department, within our department as well as across the state of North Carolina, and has done really well.

So just making sure that we get to our young people and letting them know that there's a place for them as well, that they can come on board and learn from some of the older folks that are here.

I don't mean that in a bad way.

I'm just saying just learn from some of the more mature people that are here, learn the ways, get involved, and be a part of the community.

And ending on a positive note, despite all the challenges, what gives you hope for the future?

What gives me hope for the future is that our firefighters, our leaders within the fire service, as well as our state and our country recognize the need for volunteers and recognize that they are basically the foundation of the fire service.

There are more volunteers right now today than there are career firefighters.

It doesn't seem like it, but there are.

The majority of the firefighters in the state of North Carolina are volunteers.

So I'm very optimistic that we can, with good marketing and with good public relations and just advertising and letting people know that, hey, there's a place for you here, I think we'll do well.

We'll do good in the future.

Volunteers are here to stay.

The rough terrain here in Western North Carolina meant there were a lot of places that first responders couldn't get to on the ground.

As you can see from this view, the mountains and valleys of Western North Carolina create unique challenges for rescues.

And that's where North Carolina's urban search and rescue team stepped in.

Responders from across the state came here to Western North Carolina to help with recovery efforts.

Helene taught hard lessons about what rescuers need to be ready for.

Now, the state is putting those lessons into action.

Firefighters race toward a burning aircraft.

Others plunge into churning water to pull survivors to safety.

It looks like a real disaster, but it's all training.

This is North Carolina's new emergency training center, built so rescuers can face any sort of natural disaster.

Because when Hurricane Helene hit, even veteran crews were pushed to their limits.

I think initially we didn't really have, at least locally, the expectation that it was going to turn into the event that it was.

But with that being said, we plan for those worst case scenarios all the time.

Chief Patrick Marks of the Raleigh Fire Department oversees one of North Carolina's urban search and rescue teams.

When Helene hit, 14 members of his team deployed to Haywood County.

It was the longest mission his team has faced.

Typically our responses are seven to ten days is usually what we plan for.

So a 25 day response was new to us.

But because we had considered the worst case scenario previous, we were prepared to do those personnel rotations.

In the mountain towns of Waynesville and Maggie Valley, Raleigh firefighters worked alongside local crews going door to door, rescuing residents and checking homes one by one.

I just remember thinking back to how resilient the communities were in that area.

We would come in pretty early on after the storm and there would already be community members clearing roads and getting bridges back and really taking care of their community.

I found that to be really heartwarming to see.

But the terrain posed constant challenges.

Fast moving rivers, debris choked creeks, and roads that vanished overnight.

Reaching trapped families meant navigating floodwaters that shifted by the hour.

Never have I seen such a dramatic increase in flash flooding like we saw there.

The waters came and went and what was really stunning was the way they just carved the environment after they left.

It was truly humbling to see.

Some locations that will experience flash flooding include... Pauline made clear that North Carolina's rescuers needed new tools and new training to prepare for disasters in rugged terrain.

That need is now shaping how North Carolina prepares for the next storm.

Today, that vision stands in Stanley County at the new North Carolina Emergency Training Center.

The 78 million dollar facility is at the Stanley County Airport.

It gives first responders a place to train for disasters they can't safely simulate anywhere else.

A lot of our community colleges are responsible for doing the training.

The problem there is that they don't have the ability to fund this type of facility and don't have the logistics to put it on.

So as a state fire marshal, it's my responsibility to train all of our first responders and so I wanted to be sure we had a state of the art facility to train because of what the man-made and natural disasters we're facing each and every year.

That includes a dedicated aircraft rescue and firefighting pad.

Here firefighters can train for aviation emergencies and real flames and smoke.

It also features one of the most advanced swift water rescue courses in the country.

The addition came after recent hurricanes when the state realized many departments had the boats but not the training.

We actually have had real life instances where people have operating the boats not properly trained that have turned the boats over, have injured folks.

You know, they actually use that as a case study in training across this country.

So by doing that, we're able to come in here and say, look, it's important for us to train.

After Hurricane Matthew and Florence, a lot of people went out and got grants on boats.

So they got the boats, but they weren't properly trained on how to operate them.

This facility will be key to have our people ready when disaster strikes.

Taylor says the lessons from Helene show exactly why this kind of training matters.

We've never seen this type of water movement on the landslides and coming off the hills.

So they said this facility will really enhance our response in the future.

Departments from across the state, from small rural fire stations to full urban search and rescue teams will all train here.

And for local departments that can't afford to travel out of state for specialized instruction, the center makes that training possible close to home.

Phase two is already in the works.

That'll include dorms and on-site housing so crews can stay overnight when they train.

It's a reminder, Taylor says, that recovery doesn't start after the storm.

It starts with training before the next one.

And that focus on preparation is something Chief Mark says never stops, no matter the weather.

We plan for those worst case scenarios when the sun is out and it's 70 degrees and there's a blue sky.

So that's when we're training.

That's when we're preparing.

So from that perspective, I always want more opportunities to prepare our personnel.

But with that being said, I do think we do a good job of leveraging all the resources that are available to us.

As we just saw, getting ready for disasters like Helene takes a lot of training.

I spoke with the McDowell County EMS director and he told me something surprising.

He said they actually trained for a disaster similar to Helene months before it hit.

Here's our conversation.

When you reflect back on that difficult season last year, what kind of resonates, what sticks out to you the most when you think back on that?

You know, I think Hurricane Helene, when you think of Hurricane Helene, there's many things that come to mind.

For me, it is how this community came together in the most historic way for the most costliest storm in North Carolina's history.

This community banded together like I've never seen before to ensure residents were safely rescued, were taken care of.

And you saw a whole of community approach in McDowell County starting two days before Helene actually struck and continuing today nearly 11 months later.

This community is still banded together now in recovery phase to ensure no one is left behind.

What is the key to that?

Is it collaboration?

Is it just everyone coming together willing to partner?

What's the key behind that?

We fully believe that the whole of community approach to managing a disaster is the best approach because it leverages all of the community partners and agencies and even the citizens to rally together under one common cause prior to, during, and after a disaster.

We spent many, many years here in McDowell County building those coalitions, building the partnerships that we saw come into play prior to, during, and after Helene.

Those partners who we have met with, trained with, ran scenarios with were all present during the event and that is what I credit to the lives that were saved and the ongoing recovery and how successful it has been here in McDowell County.

What the community did as a whole as well as all of the emergency personnel, EMS fire, rescue, law enforcement, their actions were heroic during Hurricane Helene.

As I said a minute ago, story after story you hear emergency personnel talking about trees falling in front of them, trees falling behind them, trees falling on top of vehicles that they were in, and trees blocking access to critical patients.

Not to mention we had law enforcement personnel that were trapped in a second story building by flash flooding, others that saw debris flows.

It's just, it's an absolute blessing that we did not lose a member of emergency services during Helene.

And so outside of partnerships, how do you tactically prepare for a storm that many people never saw coming?

Well, one of the things we began watching that storm the weekend prior to Helene as the computer models were running some scenarios of it coming up into Western North Carolina.

As that forecast painted a really grim picture for Western North Carolina, we began warning people and urging evacuations nearly 48 hours in advance of Helene.

We actually had flash flooding start well in advance of Helene because of a stalled frontal system that led to six to 10 inches of rainfall before the hurricane ever come.

But we leaned upon our partners.

We had coordination calls.

We had meetings at the emergency operations center to ensure everyone knew exactly what was going to take place or what the forecast was calling for.

And those partners remained here weeks after Helene actually hit.

So it's years and years of blue sky planning, as I call it, making sure the correct systems are in place for emergency notification, making sure we've built a network with our nonprofit organizations and partners and agencies that are traditionally not part of an emergency operations center is something that we have focused on heavily here for years and years to ensure we have the most robust response to an emergency disaster.

And how has that process changed, if at all, your perspective about how you approach training, how you approach partnerships, how you approach just this work in general?

Every year in McDowell County, we have held an emergency exercise that looks at flash flooding and a hurricane in Western North Carolina.

The exercise that we did in May of 2024 was eerily similar to what Helene actually brought.

Reviewing the PowerPoint slides from that presentation or that emergency exercise in May of '24 will give you goosebumps of how similar it was.

It simulated multiple communities that became isolated because of bridges that were washed out.

It simulated 75 to 100 mile per hour wind gusts that caused prolonged power outages.

And that's exactly what transpired during Helene.

So our partners were prepared.

It was an overwhelming amount of assistance that was required.

And a number of people, over 760 calls for help in McDowell County were pending at one time.

And that's people that were calling because they didn't have their critical medications, they needed dialysis, they needed more oxygen, or they needed rescued from areas that were cut off.

But that emergency exercise that's been conducted for over a decade now is so critical in building on our capacity year after year.

What we have focused on since Helene is ensuring that our communication plan is more robust than what it was prior to Helene.

And with that, in emergency management, there's a thing called PACE.

And to ensure that you have a primary, alternate, contingent, and emergency way of communicating during a disaster.

And we've really worked on that since Helene, focusing heavily on Starlink communications, amateur radio operators, enhancing that capability in our emergency operations center, along with a number of other things that we've done to enhance our communication plan to ensure that we're ready even more prior to the next disaster.

Hurricane Helene taught North Carolina lessons about preparing for disasters.

Now, first responders are training differently, communities have stronger partnerships, and people are learning how to be ready for anything.

Thanks for watching this Stateline Special.

From Western North Carolina, I'm David Hurst.

(upbeat music) ♪ This State Lines Special is made possible by generous support from Dogwood Health Trust, a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina, focused on dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities in the 18 counties and the Quala boundary of Western North Carolina.

Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you, who invite you to join them in supporting PBS NC.