This browser does not support the Video element.
Texas groups help with Helene aftermath
With 84 people dead and hundreds still missing in the aftermath of Helene, agencies from across the country are helping with the recovery effort, including some from North Texas.
At least 84 people are dead, and the death toll is expected to rise after Hurricane Helene.
Crews are still trying to reach areas in North Carolina cut off by flooded roads.
The western mountain city of Asheville alone has reported 30 deaths, and much of the area is without power or cell service.
Agencies from across the country are helping with the effort, including some from North Texas.
The group Texans on Mission is preparing to leave Monday to help people in northeast Tennessee.
"When something like a hurricane happens, there’s something inside of you that makes you want to do something. Texans on a Mission is filled with thousands of people who not only feel that way but do something about it," said John Hall, with the group.
Teams of up to 60 to 100 people will deploy for up to two weeks at a time.
The group will bring essentials for recovery efforts, including mobile kitchens, mobile showers and mobile laundry units.
"To meet their needs, lift them up. Do a little praying, heck, when we're out there, there’s a lot of hugs, a lot of tears and there’s a lot of healing going on," Hall said.
First responders from the Lone Star State who are members of the Texas A&M Task Force One are also deployed to help those impacted.
The 80-person crew is on their way to Georgia for a new assignment after spending the last few days in Clearwater, Florida helping other FEMA teams assess structure damage.
"I've lived here my whole life, and I can promise you that we've never seen anything even a fraction of this," said Florida resident Ashley Hare.
Hare was on her way home from a trip to Mexico when Helene made landfall as a Category Four hurricane in Florida on Thursday night.
She made it to Dallas where she had to stay the night until Tampa's airport reopened Friday morning.
"But gosh, just sitting, we went to dinner in Dallas. We were sitting down there and just sobbing, watching videos of things unfold here, and that was before the storm surge hit," Hare said.
The storm surge flooded homes farther inland in Hare's hometown of Pasadena between Treasure Island and St. Pete's Beach.
Now that Hare's back home, her focus in on helping her family, friends and neighbors who lost everything.
"I haven't stopped crying in days because just looking at it is so surreal to see all these people and places that we know that I don't know when or if they'll be able to recoup everything that they've lost," said Hare.
She knows it's not just Floridians who will need help to recover.
"This storm was so massive that, I mean from Fort Myers to North Carolina is just crazy. Every coastal town here is seeing the same damage, if not worse than what we've got here," Hare said.
Disaster declarations have been issued for multiple states.
Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement today that Texas will deploy emergency power generators to Georgia.
The recovery efforts could take weeks, if not months, for some areas.