ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — I had been employed at News 13 for just over four months when Helene hit. We all knew it was going to be big, but we just didn’t know how big.

Our meteorologists were concerned. You could see it in their faces every time they gave the forecast.

I’ll never forget the day before on Sept. 26. I was in the breakroom and the noon show had just ended. Meteorologist Meghan Danahey walked in.

It was raining.

ONE YEAR LATER: REMEMBERING THE 108 LIVES LOST IN NORTH CAROLINA TO HURRICANE HELENE

She stood there watching the rain. It looked like she was about to cry…I asked if she was OK.

She said, “Oh, Dean…this is going to be bad…so bad.”

She put her hand over her mouth and then said something I’ll never forget: “Those poor, poor people.”

Then she quietly walked out.

I write and edit the website stories here at WLOS. My shift the next day on Sept. 27 began at 4 a.m.

Helene was already here.

HELENE WIPED AWAY PRIVATE ROADS AND BRIDGES. A NEW STATE PROGRAM IS STEPPING IN TO HELP

It was a dark, eerie drive into work. Power was out everywhere. Patton Avenue was pitch black. The first lights I saw were the lights on the signs for the on-ramp to Interstate 240 and Westgate. They were flickering.

Those lights still flicker today – a constant reminder of that horrible day.

When I got to work, phones were still working in the newsroom, and they were ringing constantly. People were calling in with horrific stories. It was a day of heartache and heroics… and a day that would change the landscape of Western North Carolina forever.

Now over a year later, the recovery continues, as does the fear. As I wrote this on Sept. 27, 2025, it was thundering and pouring rain outside, and a landslide shut down a popular road in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

A day later, a tropical depression at first looked like it was headed straight for us. But now, that storm is shifting out to sea, as we all breathe a sigh of relief.

All across WNC, ceremonies were held on Sept. 27, 2025, to honor those lost.

A total of 108 people in North Carolina died because of Helene. Their lives will be forever remembered, all of them lost to a storm we wish we could forget.