It's been two months since Hurricane Helene cut a path of destruction across the southeast,

killing more than 200 people.

Ahead of the holiday season, we return to the hard-hit region of Western North Carolina,

where residents are still struggling to rebuild their lives.

Despite the challenges they face, residents described being overwhelmed with gratitude for a renewed sense of community.

Laura Barone Lopez has our report.

A few minutes outside Asheville, North Carolina, the small town of Swannanoa has a new community hub in one of the last places you'd expect.

You guys hungry?

The parking lot of a pretzel shop.

Two months of feeding the community.

We're family now.

You have chicken and salt in place here.

Christopher Smith is one of the many volunteers who come together every day to feed more than a thousand people.

Work he's been doing since just days after the storm hit in late September.

Like in the beginning, we were all pretty scared. We were all desperate.

And this was the place to come eat. So the whole community was here in line,

talking amongst each other, sharing the pain, sharing the joy.

But the pain here is still fresh.

More than 40 people died in this county.

In the deadliest and most destructive storm in North Carolina's history.

Helene's floodwaters swept away entire mountain communities,

destroyed thousands of homes, and left whole

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