Last fall's Hurricane Helene was a storm of superlatives.

Not only was it the strongest ever to hit Florida's Big Bend region.

Once it was over land, it brought historic rainfall and record-setting flooding across the southeast.

In the immediate aftermath, 430 miles of the famed Appalachian Trail were closed as down trees blocked footpaths

and bridges were washed away. Now, months of labor by volunteer work crews has brought that down

to just five miles. Across the southeast, Hurricane Helene's devastation lingers.

I've lived in the Middle East many years,

and this is worse than any war that I've been in.

It's horrendous.

On the Appalachian Trail in northeastern Tennessee,

fallen trees and other debris still block footpaths.

For the past 11 months, at least 2,000 volunteers

have worked to clear those obstacles.

They're from groups that maintain the trail, including the Appalachian Trail Conservancy,

which is responsible for its day-to-day management.

Bring it all.

There are numerous places where trees used to stand and their roots were in the ground and the roots got pulled up

and have left a large hole in the middle of the Appalachian Trail.

The trail was proposed in 1921, built by private citizens, and completed in 1937.

It stretches nearly 2,200 miles winding through 14 states from Maine to Georgia.

It passes through eight national forests, six sites on the national park system, and two

national wildlife refuges.

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