- Local business owner Polly Simon returned to Grand Ledge after aiding hurricane survivors in the Carolinas.
- Simon spent two weeks with the Red Cross, assisting in shelters and assessing storm damage.
- Hurricane Helene caused massive flooding and landslides in the Carolinas in late September.
- The Red Cross continues to seek volunteers for ongoing relief efforts.
Watch video above to see pictures of devastation
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"I'm still trying to process all of the things I saw" Said Polly Simon, Grand Ledge Business Owner.
If it's true that a picture paints a thousand words then the images Polly Simon took in the North and South Carolina could fill a book.
"What looked like dead foliage, was the water line, the water/mud-line and that was a good 10-15 feet from above where I was sitting in a Vehicle." Said Simon.
Hurricane Helene hit Florida and made its way into the Carolina's as a tropical storm in late September, dumping record breaking amounts of rainfall on to the region causing flooding and landslides.
"Just vehicles completely demolished, buildings just wiped out." Said Simon.
Simon said she felt a need to go help after hearing about the devastation.
"I've got a loved one who lives in Lake Lure, which is a short distance from the worst of the worst down there, and I just had an overwhelming need to go." Said Simon.
During her two week deployment she assisted in fulfilling supplies to those in shelters and helping access damage done by the storm.
"I'm walking to shelters with some 140 displaced folks, all ages, everybody in just one big room sleeping on cots, and making those deliveries to try and make that situation just a little less uncomfortable." Said Simon.
Now back in Grand Ledge Simon feels the work isn't done.
"There's so much more that needs to be done down there, and I feel guilty being back to my normal life." Said Simon.
Through that feeling, is also a glimmer of hope that Simon says will stick with her.
"The outpouring of human's love for other humans, race, religion, everybody has just come together to try and recover." Said Simon.
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