The death toll from Hurricane Helene has climbed to 213, making it one of deadliest hurricanes to hit the United States since modern record-keeping began, after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Maria. Hundreds remain missing and are feared dead. More than half of the deaths were in North Carolina, where on Thursday private helicopter companies joined efforts to bring aid to mountain communities cut off by flood damage. This is pilot Brook Barzyk, who delivered food, water and other supplies to the hard-hit Swannanoa Valley.

Brook Barzyk: “It’s absolute devastation. Even just this valley through here is decimated. And I think the one thing that stands out the most is, even after it had been several days since it had happened, there still was no aid here at all.”