MITCHELL COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY HOMETOWN) — “Nothing about this is normal."
There is an island of debris that divides the North Toe River in Mitchell County.
That’s new.
It’s loud here—that’s different too.
“It’s a lot different, not a good different,” said Nick Honeycutt.
When there’s no construction, it is quiet.
But not like before.
This quiet isn’t peaceful.
“You can see stuff in the water,” said Nick.
Nick grew up on these banks. He knows this river—or rather, knew it.
“There’s a lot,” said Nick. “A lot of blur. Still a blur—it’s just a lot to take in.”
Three days after Hurricane Helene, Nick climbed through the debris and the river to get to Relief, North Carolina.
“We had a little hope. You know, going through the house and going up the mountain behind the house, but… it drains you,” remembered Nick.
That little hope he had dwindled when all Nick found was an old stove.
The house he was looking for was gone.
His in-laws, Stephen and Alena Ayers, weren’t there either.
Nick and others spent weeks climbing through tangled trees and over rocks, walking the river.
Searching.
Hoping.
Stephen’s body was found 20 miles down the river about a week after Helene.
Alena… still has not been found, almost seven months after the hurricane.
“I love them,” said Nick. “They were fun to be around. We miss them.”
Stephen was artistic, and Alena had this contagious laugh. They were all about family and raising their kids, including their little girl Bridgett, who was with her grandparents when Helene hit.
“She just turned nine in January,” said Nick. “Stephen had two other daughters from a previous marriage too.”
Even with things coming back, it’s not the same.
It will always be different.
“You have dreams about them; it feels normal,” said Nick. “You wake up and still got all this going on.”
That’s the question, isn’t it? What is normal?
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