North Carolina election officials grapple with storm’s impact

(NewsNation) — Western North Carolina is one of the areas hardest hit by the remnants of Hurricane Helene; Asheville and surrounding towns in the Blue Ridge Mountains experienced record-breaking floods.

As a result of the storm, people in the area lost power, water and cellphone service, and damage to hundreds of roads left Asheville virtually cut off from the rest of the world.

Reporter Bob Buckley from NewsNation affiliate WGHP says the impact of Helene in North Carolina could have a “massive” impact on the election.

“Early voting is supposed to start in two weeks. I don’t see any way that happens in most of these counties up in the mountains,” Buckley said on NewsNation’s Swing State Spotlight segment on “The Hill.”

“Trump won those (most impacted) 14 counties by more than 90,000 votes in 2020. But he only won the state overall by 75,000 votes. So getting all those voters that are now displaced is gonna be massive to the Republicans for this November,” Buckley added.

North Carolina election officials say they will do everything in their power to ensure that voters in the crucial presidential swing state will be able to cast their ballots despite the devastation of Hurricane Helene and the destruction of basic infrastructure only about a month before the November election.

Helene, which battered large areas across the Southeast late last week with torrential rain and strong winds and massive storm surges along the Gulf Coast, caused devastation “beyond belief” in western North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper said during a media briefing Tuesday.

“This disaster is unlike anything our state has ever experienced,” he said.

The level of destruction could have far-reaching implications beyond the immediate damage to the flooded communities, especially if it has any impact on voting. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.