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Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Thursday October 3rd

24. This is the excerpt. Today we head back to North Carolina and hear more harrowing stories of

survival and recovery from residents after Helene. Plus closing arguments

have wrapped in the case surrounding officers in the beating of Tyry Nichols,

and another person pleads guilty in Matthew Perry's death.

We start with the continuing and expanding story of the devastation in Hurricane Helene's wake. The death toll now stands at over 160

and is still rising. Meanwhile, survivors of the monster storm are continuing to emerge from shelter

to share news with loved ones that they made it while starting the long

process of recovery. We knew a big hurricane was coming through but we've never

seen anything like this before and it was just total destruction.

That's the voice of Casey Smith from Burnsville, North Carolina.

She has one of thousands who are picking up the pieces after one of the deadliest and

costliest storms in US history.

USA Today, National Correspondent Chris Kenning has been on the a this troubling, troubling week. Thanks for having me.

So Chris, we heard from Casey Smith there

in the intro.

Can you just start by telling us about her

and her experience through all this?

I met Casey on Sunday.

I had driven from Tennessee over a mountain in North Carolina that was, you know, a

...