Duke Energy said Friday it hopes to have the lights back on for many customers in the Carolinas this weekend, but it warns that people living in places with catastrophic damage should be prepared to wait weeks or longer.

Nearly 700,000 homes and businesses in the Southeast are still without power more than a week after Hurricane Helene blew through the region

North Carolina General Assembly leaders said Friday that they’re prepared to approve initial disaster relief next week to address Hurricane Helene damage. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said in a joint news release that details are still being worked out about exactly what is needed now to facilitate the state’s response.

In the midst of the devastating destruction left by the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, human connections are giving the survivors hope in western North Carolina

W hen Hurricane HELENE hit Florida’s Big Bend on September 26th it was hard to imagine that it would wreak the most devastation over 400 miles north in the Appalachian mountains. Officials report that flooding across the Southeast has killed about 200 people,