Helene

CNN  — More than a week has passed since Helene rammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast as a hurricane and began slicing what would become a deep scar of loss and destruction from there to Virginia, killing at least 213 people and obliterating countless homes, businesses, and lifetimes worth of precious belongings. Searches for missing loved ones grow more desperate each day as officials say hundreds are unaccounted for and rescue crews are hindered by cell service outages and ruined roads and bridges. People have reported hiking hours to check on trapped loved ones and spending agonizing moments scouring soaked river…

The volunteers assembled Wednesday morning just outside the western North Carolina mountain town of Sugar Grove had an idea for how they were going to reach storm-battered communities in the area that have been cut off from the world for days: horses. “There are some areas where we are that there’s just no way to get in with a vehicle,” said Kelly Doughty, who owns an event venue where the gaggle of people on horseback gathered before setting out to help stranded victims. “They had gotten a list from the fire department of areas to go to. They were like…