Phil Miles, 76, a regular Muni golfer who before Helene played weekly, was back at the course for the first time Nov. 7. He was out of town when the storm reached WNC, and said even from afar, watching the devastation was “heartbreaking.”

Human traffickers are trickling into western North Carolina to exploit the trail of vulnerability that Hurricane Helene left in its wake, a law enforcement representative warned at a recent North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission meeting.