Brandon Drenon
US reporter

The arrival of Hurricane Milton comes at a sensitive time for many Americans.

I recently returned from North Carolina, one of several states in turmoil after Hurricane Helene struck the southeastern United States less than two weeks ago.

So far, at least 225 people have been killed by the storm, which also hit South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. North Carolina saw some of the worst damage and the highest death toll – at least 116 people died across the state.

As I drove through the state’s famously mountainous western region, I saw entire buildings reduced to rubble, huge trees split into pieces and power lines strewn across streets lined with piles of trash.

Cinda Galgano, whose home was among a dozen in a mobile home park destroyed by the flood, said she had to be rescued by boat. Days later she returned to her home in Boone where we met.

As she stood in the living room, the floor full of mud and belongings scattered everywhere, she told me: “The bed, the mattress are ruined. The soils are pushed through. Water leaked into my refrigerator and dryer.

The freshness of Helene’s wounds is certainly still in the minds of the people of Florida as Milton approaches. “Unfortunately, some of the Helene victims are in the path of this storm,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference yesterday.

image source, BBC News/Brandon Drenon