It’s been one week since Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeast and devastated Western North Carolina with heavy rains and severe flooding.

Many people are trapped as hundreds of roads in Western North Carolina have been rendered inaccessible by the storm.

A team of rescuers from Maryland have been working around the clock to get to the isolated people, many without food and water.

The Maryland Helicopter Aquatic Response Team (HART) is made up of 24 highly skilled first responders from fire departments and emergency services departments across the Baltimore region. They’re in North Carolina right now rescuing people by helicopter from the devastation.

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At least 225 people have been confirmed dead, and officials say they expect the death toll to continue to rise as recovery efforts continue.

“It happened in the mountains, there’s a lot of small communities, and unfortunately they’ve been cut off either by the flooding, bridges washing out, or mudslides,” said Michael Berna, Maryland HART civilian team administrator.

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 04: People clear flood debris from Monteath's Auto Service in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene flooding along the Swannanoa River on October 4, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. At least 215 people were killed in six states in the wake of the powerful hurricane which made landfall as a Category 4. President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,000 active duty U.S. soldiers to assist with storm relief efforts in what is now the deadliest U.S. mainland hurricane since Hurricane Katrina. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
People clear flood debris from Monteath's Auto Service last week in the aftermath of flooding along the Swannanoa River in Asheville, N.C. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Berna is also one of the founding members of Maryland HART. The team, composed of first responders from Harford, Montgomery, Howard and Baltimore counties, arrived in Western North Carolina on Sept. 27.

“That was the day they really saw people ... I’ll say in the greatest peril. There were still floodwaters, there were still mudslides occurring,” Berna explained.

As the days went on, Berna said, people who were trapped but not in immediate danger started to run out of food, water or medication.

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“Our air assets have been key because it’s been extremely difficult to get anything in by ground,” he said.

Since they arrived, the team has covered 2,295 miles by air, according to Berna. As of Thursday, they’ve rescued 71 adults, 10 children, two infants, and more than 20 dogs by way of multiple hoist missions.

“A lot of the area is inaccessible — there may not be room to land the helicopter. If they can they certainly will, but that has forced our team to conduct a lot of hoist missions,” he said.

The Maryland Army National Guard is also helping to conduct rescues in North Carolina, having sent a dozen soldiers and a CH-47F Chinook helicopter and delivered food and supplies.

WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner.