The Cajun Navy responds after Hurricane Helene, causing devastating damage similar to Katrina

Hurricane Helene It has caused devastation of “biblical proportions” in parts of the Appalachian Mountains, according to an official with a volunteer search and rescue group, prompting comparisons to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The death toll from the hurricane rose to at least 190, and that number is expected to rise in the coming weeks as authorities continue their response Rescue and recovery efforts.

“I personally lost everything I owned in Hurricane Katrina, which is one of the reasons I’m doing this,” said Ben Husser, vice president of the Louisiana-based search and rescue group Cajun Navy 2016.

“I can say it will take some time. This won’t be an overnight recovery. We’re talking years, and these people will suffer. They need every resource that is and will be available to them.” . It’s going to be a long, hard battle to come back from this.

Hurricane Helene: North Carolina residents struggle to survive as basic goods become scarce

Husser said Helene was “absolutely” comparable to Katrina.

“These are hard-working people. They’re just trying to get by from day to day. Most of them would not be properly prepared for such a catastrophe. This has biblical proportions. … I’ve heard people … comparing it to Katrina. Absolutely.” . I would say it’s worse in some ways because it’s a huge area, you know, hundreds of kilometers.

Fairview resident James LaTrella told Fox News Digital a neighbor gave him cash and gas after his home was destroyed during the hurricane. Other locals traveled into the city from their mountain neighborhoods to collect water and food for elderly residents or young mothers with babies in need of diapers and formula.

FOX CORPORATION LAUNCHES FUNDRAISER FOR AMERICAN RED CROSS HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF

“We’re pretty tough people up here, but this thing is bigger than all of us,” Richard Blaloch told Fox News Digital as he scooped up non-potable water that the Fairview, North Carolina, Fire Department had collected from a nearby creek , which residents can use for flushing toilets and other sanitary purposes.

Volunteer pilots offer private helicopters to deliver supplies and rescue people. Other volunteers have delivered Starlink systems to remote areas where there is no electricity, roaming data or cellular service.

“I think people are really…just kind of shocked and still wondering, ‘Where do we start? What happens?’ People are still missing. But … something that’s a defining characteristic of these North Carolinians and these people who live in the western part of the state is that they don’t say, ‘Okay, let’s just give up,'” said Charlotte, North Carolina, city councilman Tariq Bokhari, who traveled to Lake Lure over the weekend with friends who live there, told Fox News Digital. “It would be really easy to say, ‘This is too much. I give up.’”

Bokhari added that “hundreds, if not thousands” of Charlotte residents have reached out and asked how they can help people in the western part of the state.

“It’s a resilient group, and it’s a group that is very positive,” Bokhari said of those affected by Helene. “It just shows you that no matter how bad something is — and it seems really bad, as bad as anyone here has seen — that spirit ultimately pushes you to adapt and figure it out.”

NORTH CAROLINA reels from devastating destruction of Helene as death toll rises: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’

Numerous in and out of state Voluntary organizations have been stationed in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, parts of Georgia and Florida since the weekend.

First responders and military personnel from across the United States have also traveled to affected areas to assist in rescue and recovery efforts and to drop off donations.

Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian humanitarian aid organization based in Boone, has volunteers in several hurricane-affected states and has set up a 20-bed emergency field hospital in Linville for needy patients.

“The devastation is truly heartbreaking. And so many families have no electricity, no water. It’s difficult to stay in touch and communicate with people because so many cell towers are down. It’s really overwhelming,” said Kaitlyn Josten, spokeswoman for the organization, told Fox News Digital.

“People have lost their homes both from flooding and mudslides, as well as from wind damage that toppled trees and destroyed homes. So it’s different than anything else. I’m from North Carolina. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen there.”

Rescue missions are underway in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene caused “historic” flooding and landslides

Josten added that people are still “trapped in their homes, especially in the mountains, in some of the more rural areas, where it may already be a gravel road that they can’t get out of now.”

“I think it’s difficult right now to know exactly how much damage we’re dealing with,” she said.

BIDEN VISITS NORTH CAROLINA DAYS AFTER HELENE’S PATH OF DESTRUCTION DEVASTATED MANY

Samaritan’s Purse is asking Americans first and foremost to pray for those affected by the storm. The organization is also looking for additional volunteers to work at five different locations. Volunteers can help for a day by living on-site or staying with other Samaritan’s Purse employees.

“A detour when you think about it is that every little bit of training we had for any terrain, except for the desert training, was all of a sudden in heavy, heavy downpours,” he said. “I mean, there were just huge hurdles to overcome to get to these people… but that’s what we’re used to.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

He said people in the areas devastated by Helene had lost “everything”.

“America must come together. You have to imagine that these people have lost everything. Everything. So I tell people that when it comes to fundraisers, there’s no question of, ‘Do they need this?’ They need everything from food, water, hygiene, medical care, tents, tarps, everything – they need everything,” Drafton said.

LINK: Get updates on Helene and more at foxnews.com.