As western North Carolina continues to work to recover and rebuild, we asked four individuals to share their memories and reflections about Hurricane Helene. That was the day my entire reality became confined to the windowless basement of the North Carolina Emergency Operations Center (EOC). It was a catastrophic, history-making event — the most destructive storm to ever hit North Carolina. Over 3,800 churches from all across North Carolina and from every state assisted us in the mountains. This whole experience for all of us here in western North Carolina has been life-changing in all different ways.