Please do follow-ups at say every 6 months so people don't forget and they can see progress that you and the team can point out. God bless you and the entire team.
We’re down here working it still. Watuga and Bucombe County. The people here have been nothing but gracious. May god bless these folks. There’s still a lot left to do out here
@@trapf2698 Does that compute?? Maybe it's because He subjected the world to vanity and it's just the earth waiting for the sons to deliver it from the bondage of corruption. Maybe He didn't do it directly. Accidents happen.
Thanks for covering my state. It never ceases to amaze me how much damage water can do. What's far more amazing is the enormous amount of work and rebuilding that people can do using heavy machines. Those guys are truly inspiring.
I know right. It's crazy the damage that water can do in a matter of minutes. One minute something could be there and the next minute it's gone in the blink of an eye. I'm glad you're safe from the storm that happened. Happy New Year's brother.
Thank you for putting this together. I live in Western North Carolina and am so tired of the sensationalized, click bait, liars who are spreading misinformation about the storm and the recovery. I greatly appreciate you and access Branch Civil allowed so people could get a better appreciate of the truth of the recovery effort and the work that will be ongoing from many months.
@@Trthsker24 the nonsense about help wasnt here when they were here before the storm even hit and was here the entire time doing swift water rescues, that the government created the storm, specifically the democrats. The storm was created to steal land that contains lithium........ AND THE LIST GOES ON. I also live here in WNC 45 south of Asheville where it was absolutely decimated and the lies and conspiracy theories ive seen thrown around on twitter and other social media sites is purely insane.
@@Trthsker24I’ve seen lots of people on twitter try to make it seem like North Carolina isn’t getting governmental support which is just a lie. I’ve seen “Left for dead” thrown around too which is also just untrue. This video did a great job at displaying the extensive labor and time it takes to rebuild cities/towns/states
@Trthsker24 - Lies like, FEMA isn't here, when there was an office set up in my town that I saw with my own eyes and others that were on the news (of course people who spread those lies don't watch news). Lies like, the $750 being given to those who lost their homes is a loan that has to be paid back. Lies like, FEMA was stealing what heavily armed "volunteers"(actually vloggers looking to profit off other's misery) were bringing in from out of state. How did unarmed people steal from armed " volunteers?" Funny thing is, the vloggers who were filming everything didn't show any of this. Also, they said they were being turned away. Well, yes. Duh! Roads and bridges were washed away. There were already trained responders there. Some well meaning volunteers were injured because they didn't realize the waters were highly toxic. Lies like, thousands are dead and the government is covering it up. Lies like, my buddy saw 200 bodies pulled from the water in one spot. The total death toll is a little over 100 and that includes people who had equipment accidents cleaning up weeks after the storm. Lies like, the various branches of the military were not here helping. There were actually about 3 weeks when helicopters flew over my yard all day. Does that answer your question?
I live in Arden , just outside Asheville. I was shocked at the damage to Biltmore Village and the entrance to Biltmore Estate when I passed through to get to the hospital . Even now, months later, I still see huge mounds of tree trunks and limbs waiting to be taken away
im glad people are still making videos and doing follow ups because this shouldn't be forgotten just because the news have moved on. as a British person i have always admired how much Americans come together and help each other. I hope and pray the people here dont get forgotten because this will takes so many years and lots more support.
THIS, is what a TON of Prayers, helping hands and big machinery can do to help all that were affected by Hurricane Helene. 👍😁🙏 Thank you so much for showing us all, what's going on currently.
Thank you for all you do! NC is a place I grew up going to every year, sometimes several times a year. However, this is all we see, there are other areas in Tennessee and Virginia that were hit just as hard like Damascus, VA, Carter County, TN and Johnson County TN, Unicoi, TN and probably others. I really appreciate all the hard work you all are doing! Thank you!
Aaron and crew... good to see you here in the States working. You mentioned it not being the "fun" work normally done. Yes. However, the most rewarding work they/you will ever be involved with in their life. It will always be reminisced until they're old. Prayers be with you all, and nice work. Aaron, nice playskool hammer.🙂
I have watched many of your videos, this one earned my subscription and bell. Please make the rebuilding and community restoration of this disaster a regular feature for at least the next two years. Thank you, Ken Lee.
Aaron and team thank you for covering this area as the only coverage you see anymore shows Chimney Rock and Biltmore village and the areas like Burnsville and spruce pine were absolutely devastated beyond belief. I work for the power company here and was in the middle off all of this from the time it hit. When you all said all this area was under water where the ball fields were I was there within 30 minutes of the rain stopping and it looked like a lake in that whole flat. Please continue to show the amount of work and effort it is going to take to get these folks a somewhat normal existence.
Spent a week Christmas week volunteering with Savage Freedoms out of Swannanoa. I was not prepared to see what we saw STILL, three months in. Thank you for continuing to highlight the devastation and efforts.
Its absolutely astonishing what this storm did and not a day goes by i don’t think about it and the people affected. Thanks for going there and showing some of the work.
Yeah im from newport tn it put a few feet of water in our downtown and im about quarter mile from the pigeon river and the night it was fully up it sounded like a freight train rolling through it was eerie. The douglas dam set a record for water it let out from like 600k and change per second to 1.2 mill gallons per second trying to control it.
It’s sad that we can’t do more for you. This is a whole state not just a few rich communities. You lost your houses, communities, and the land. So sad who our government feels is important. We can learn from your strength! God bless your fortitude!!
I really appreciate seeing recovery and rebuild efforts more than the glorification of someone's new construction. This is good, because it shows how much these companies work to giving us the things we take for granted every day, as we drive to work, the stores, and to home and take our kids out for their play dates. None of this would be possible without all the hard work these people are putting in, trying to restore our world to what we like to enjoy.
Fine use of ground and drone footage to show the restoration in progress and better conceptualize the extent of devastation caused by flood waters scouring and excavating the base of the hills on either side the river. Great job to the construction teams reclaiming the rock and soil to reconstruct embankments and access for the people of western Northern Carolina.
Burnsville native here, 7th generation in yancey county. We are from Pensacola, NC. It’s still so wild, even three months later. We clean and rebuild and clean and rebuild. But we still have so much to do. We lost most of what we all had worked for for decades. My dad, a local builder and woodworker, lost his shops, barn, and heavy equipment. All we can hope for is loans to rebuild. Thank you to all these volunteers and crews coming in to help our community rebuild. Not a day goes by where we don’t cry over the memories lost to this event. We are Yancey Strong ❤
So very sorry for all the loss! God bless and help you recover. I'm giving to one group that I know I can trust, hoping you receive the help you need to rebuild.
I’ve lived here my whole life on the toe and nolichucky and have never seen the river flood like this. Thank you to everyone who has helped in my community and thank you for all the hard work from the volunteers to help us get out to the nearest towns when all the first happend we were stranded in poplar had no way to get to Erwin tennesse or Burnsville North Carolina for about 3 days no power and no cell service either when it first happened
What an awesome job these guys are doing! Amazing to think that it's taking man months to move what Mother Nature moved in hours! Thanks for sharing their story.
This is by a long stretch one of your most relevant film productions that you have ever undertaken. Too little coverage has been allocated to showcasing the enormous upwelling that took place in the landscape, and how it transitioned into an almost unrecognizable and catastrophic unfolding of a life altering and thankfully extremely rare event.
I live here in this part of North Carolina. So thankful for all that is going on. Anyone needing supplies I'm at 18 lower pig-pin Rd. Green Mountain N.C. 28740. This is Zion Church.
ML&R. Continued prayers for you and yours. We've been sending all possible needs over, we're in NE TN and those not smashed have stepped up in our regions and makes me proud to Continue to be mountain strong. Keep up God's work! TNJR
The excavators and rock trucks are big, strong and expensive, but it’s amazing that the water is sooooo much stronger. It will take years for the machines to put back what the water did in hours!!
I'm wholeheartedly in support of the work being done here. It does make me chuckle when someone says "natural path for the river" since the natural path is wherever the hell it wants to be.
The dumptruck traffic has wrecked what little existing roads we had left in our little disaster area. They thunder through with no regard for the shoulder or oncoming cars. Ii assume they are not "from" here, they get stuck constantly and block through traffic. How did they get their CDL?WE KNOW they are working hard but are not concerned with anything but getting where they gotta go,
The river did what is was meant to do; transport water and sediment downstream. You correct in assuming that the river wants to go, but we need to learn from this experience and not try to force the river to bend to our will. If we do not change how we move forward, we will just repeat this cycle again. Meanders serve to dissipate the velocity of the river. This is especially necessary in areas where the cross section of the river is narrow. Channelizing the river will do nothing but exacerbate the issue of flooding and scour. Channelizing or straightening the river increases the velocity of it and increases the risk of flooding and scour of the river. Channelizing happens a lot in road building. Hopefully they will use natural channel design when they rebuild these sections of the river especially those sections that hug the roadway. This will allow additional armoring of the river by using the material in the river to move the flow from the banks to the deepest part of the channel. Natural channel design uses boulders and trees to armor the river channel in addition to providing habitat for aquatic species that will need it since everything was washed away.
Thank you guys so much! We appreciate the tireless amount of hours and time away from your families to do this work. Thank you for the video showing us what's going on!! Stay safe and God bless you every single one!
It really is! Living here and seeing it everyday, yet it's still just almost impossible to wrap my head around. I work in the river arts district, an area absolutely devastated, debris and clothing 20/25 feet up in trees is still just terrifying to imagine!
Cool video to see the progress in that particular area, even though it is slow rolling. Keep in mind for every large enterprise like Branch, there are dozens of smaller privately owned 1-4 man companies doing similar work for free or close to nothing just to help their neighbors out
Thanks for coming to check out our area. As one who had experience in large excavations and mining style work I wish I was available to operate. However I’m fixing the damage now on a different side.
This is a honest "rubber meets the road" expose here. Men doing dangerous work to protect and reestablish their communities by all means necessary. Projects like this need all hands on deck. College educated engineers, experienced management and supervisors, and skilled labor all coming together to get the damn job done right now. It's amazing what human beings can accomplish with the right motivations and all the extra "noise" removed.
Thank you for highlighting this important work. Kudos to you and your team for visiting once the majority of the response effort went home. Follow up videos would be awesome if you can swing it.
Wow!!! I just came across your channel, and this video is excellent!! Great music, camera and drone work. I hope you continue to follow up on this series with progress shots & info. This HANDS DOWN is the best recovery video I've seen for Helene. Praising your work and those shown i n the video.
The devastation from this storm is terrible but seeing what they're doing to rebuild is amazing. I appreciate all the footage of the heavy equipment as a fan of off-road equipment. Footage of the articulating dump trucks was really neat. Also all the information presented about the why they're allowed to drive in the river and how the road will eventually be reengineered was cool.
Amazing, I don’t think we as Americans really see what it takes to rebuild after a disaster, this is monumental , and wondering why the military isn’t there helping to rebuild. Just an amazing feat. Thank you to you who are working, and you for the video. ❤
I remember losing power for 4 days because of Helene. And i live far from where Helene struck the hardest (I live in central SC). I couldn't see it at the time, but damn me and my family got off easy. May those who lost their lives rest peacefully and may those helping to rebuild be compensated for their amazing work. People have seemingly forgotten about Helene because of Hurricane Milton, despite Helene being far far worse (nearly 100% of south carolina was without electricity, and just nearly as many in NC and Georgia). BTW, great video, extremely high quality. Almost like a short documentary.
We greatly appreciate all the hard physical labor to get us back to a new normal. Thankyou for reporting the truth about what is happening here in the Helene distaster areas. Will take many years so come volunteer. Some of these mountain roads where built with horse drawen road graders. No machines. The C.C.C. camps ruins can still be seen in Yancey county. Men with shovels and pick axe. Go devils. Cross cut saws. Check out the history of the hand dug Mica mines.
Thank you for showing this after the major media has gone. Like you so brilliantly pointed out the big company in the areas go to WORK. You show that you are a rock star. In my humble opinion 😊❤😊 your showing and going out to sites is amazing, and People need to SEE this hard work. 😊 it takes modern heavy equipment to fix everything 😊
I've just subscribed as I'm still shocked at how much is still needed to be done in order for a sense of normality to resume in the North Carolinas ...although in reality that can never be... considering over a hundred thousand acres along the river path has been wiped out. Its such a heartfelt tragedy that really no words can describe...you just feel it in your Spirit and Soul. I don't even live there yet i feel strangely connected...i put it down to the terrain and vistas being extraordinarily similar to where i live in Scotland UK 🏴....the area is actually Twinned with Ashville NC ...to which a funding group was set up to help with aid being sent out...although that news came through a Month after the devestation because the News didn't reveal the extent of damage till later. Even now nothing nor any update is forthcoming from mainstream news. I feel so much more help is needed by way of clean up and restoration. Although in this video its just fantastic to see Good Men in their giant machines and lorries doing so much heavy clearing work albiet they look like tonka toys compared to the huge swathes of devestation they are trying to conquer. God Bless everyone of them. 🙏 I've seen many videos and testimonials from survivors which has become an obsession because i want to Bless each and everyone in Jesus name alongside send blessings to those mentioned who lost their Lives including the pets and animals. This could so easily have been my village and home area....my home is right on the banks of a famous and long winding River which becomes mightily strong with powerful currents in heavy rainfall....also being in a valley surrounded by mountains and forestation....exactly like an identical twin of the Ashville town and surrounding area. The winding road paths, river and trees of autumn colours is no different to what i see everyday. But for me i can only say..."there by the Grace of God go i".... Thank you for showing many of us the endurance, the love and hard work of all those combining as a Community to regain their Spirit in rebuilding their Future. I send much Love, Blessings and Good Wishes to you all. ❤🙏🏴
As a resident of WNC thank you for covering our area still. Many people, including most North Carolina residents believed that when clean water was restored to most of Asheville in early december that the disaster was over but parts of WNC are just now being uncovered. The rebuild is going to be measured in years, decades and generations.
So many people see movies that distort the truth of how long it takes to recover. Add to that a society of instant gratification and we have this unrealistic idea of how long and how difficult true recovery is after an event like this. Some areas around here will be forever changed. That is the way of mother nature. Hopefully, we'll rebuild smarter and stronger.
Bro this video cements you as not just entertaining education but actual news reporting. Thank you for finding this as an opportunity to present things differently and show off how incredibly talented you and your team are! 7:32
its crazy on the drastic change all that has put on that community, right after the storm happened, I was watching some truckers that do youtube, and how they were able to help with aid on bringing supplies up to the community and one even was helping with supplies and cleanup, but its good to see that people are still working on that
I am an old woman in PA. My granddaughter goes to university in North Carolina. When viewing this amazing youtube, I thank God for the company and the resources for rebuilding roads and bridges in this devastated community. I pictured this happening a 100 years ago. Nothing probably would have been rebuilt. It was too much. I hope there will be ground cover someday. I hope some of the people will be comfortable again in that region. And I thank God for the workers who spend day after day trying to reform the land. They aren't just doing it for the money, they care about the community. Thank you for this heartfelt update.
I work for the DOT in Maine and in the spring, summer, and winter of '23 we got hit with alot of rain and waves of storms washing roads out and flooding valley towns, it took a over a year for us to finally catch up fixing all the washed out roads. But compaired to what the people in North Carolina are facing, it was nothing. Crazy the power of mother nature, and she just seems to be getting angrier and angrier.
This is just one place. I live in Asheville an there's scenes like this everywhere. They are still finding bodys too. There's firewood everywhere ya go, so we'll be stocked up on that subject. Prayers for all out there around me. Take care.
I've been reading that they are still finding bodies and parts of bodies. They will never all be found. So much mud that has buried everything. The SAR teams are working so hard. Praying for families and for those working so hard.
I live in spruce pine which is the neighboring town to Burnsville and can say the mining company I work for as done a lot of work also and want to thank you
Very well done video, we took a bunch of relief to those folks. Glad to see things are getting built back. Hopefully no permit and red tape B.S. in those rivers, job has to get done. Glad to see you Chris, and other folks up there helping.
Love your channel and glad you covered this!!! TH-camrs like you are the TRUE NEWS SOURCE... Please do follow ups!!! This is just one story of the thousands just like this💯🇺🇸💯🇺🇸💯😊
Thank you for showing us what is being done in the infrastructure. Looking forward to progress reports. What can you show us as to folks getting their lives back. Are people coming in to help? Money? Do folks/families have somewhere to live that’s warm during the winter months? God bless these folks. My heart goes out to them as well as many prayers.
Dude your channel has exploded. I remember when you had something like 12k subs. I was thinking how does he afford to travel all over. Nice work to you and the team!
Shocking how much damage occurred it’s a devastating but Wow that’s a very cool project to be working on a lot of moving dirt and reconstructing to do. I think it’s very important to design and build all permanent structures to be able to handle another big flooding while maintaining the flow of water without erosion
Thanks for this report showing how the community and it's people are working together to recover from Helene's devastating damage. Great work. I am curious about how the Corps of Engineers cooperated with or hindered these community efforts in issuing their permits for the emergency work in the river way. I heard no mention of their involvement. Perhaps that was to avoid addressing a sensitive or contentious issue.
Love seeing my old crew mates pop up in one of your videos. The Ureinda's are a hell of a family of operators, but better people. Murph, KK, Steven, Kaleb and Terry, yall are alright too. Miss you fellas.
Aaron, this is important to document as there is $2.1 billon dollars being spent on Helene/Milton relief. Awesome seeing these off road dump trucks fording the river! Soutex
For folks not in the know, each of those trucks is being loaded with several tons of rocks on each trip.... and they'll have to make thousands of trips. That's hundreds of thousands of tons of rock washed down by the floods!
I drove that section of road almost everyday to get to one of our Mobil laundry sites, I work for a company that has a bunch of mobile showers and laundry units in Asheville and surrounding areas!
Please do follow-ups at say every 6 months so people don't forget and they can see progress that you and the team can point out. God bless you and the entire team.
Leave God out of it. Give God a break. Isn't he the one that created this disaster
@@trapf2698 Damn bro who hurt you
@@trapf2698You can do good, and be good, without believing in a bunch of religious fairy tales.
That would be nice. It's beautiful country.
It would be better at one month intervals,
We’re down here working it still. Watuga and Bucombe County. The people here have been nothing but gracious. May god bless these folks. There’s still a lot left to do out here
God is the one that created the disaster. Maybe the disaster was his way of blessing them
@@trapf2698grow up
@@trapf2698 Does that compute?? Maybe it's because He subjected the world to vanity and it's just the earth waiting for the sons to deliver it from the bondage of corruption. Maybe He didn't do it directly. Accidents happen.
I need a job driving truck, are you hiring?
@@trapf2698 wtf are you talking about, that doesn't make sense
Thanks for covering my state. It never ceases to amaze me how much damage water can do. What's far more amazing is the enormous amount of work and rebuilding that people can do using heavy machines. Those guys are truly inspiring.
I know right. It's crazy the damage that water can do in a matter of minutes. One minute something could be there and the next minute it's gone in the blink of an eye. I'm glad you're safe from the storm that happened. Happy New Year's brother.
Right
Thank you for putting this together. I live in Western North Carolina and am so tired of the sensationalized, click bait, liars who are spreading misinformation about the storm and the recovery. I greatly appreciate you and access Branch Civil allowed so people could get a better appreciate of the truth of the recovery effort and the work that will be ongoing from many months.
What kind of clickbait, what exact lies?
@@Trthsker24 the nonsense about help wasnt here when they were here before the storm even hit and was here the entire time doing swift water rescues, that the government created the storm, specifically the democrats. The storm was created to steal land that contains lithium........ AND THE LIST GOES ON. I also live here in WNC 45 south of Asheville where it was absolutely decimated and the lies and conspiracy theories ive seen thrown around on twitter and other social media sites is purely insane.
@@Trthsker24I’ve seen lots of people on twitter try to make it seem like North Carolina isn’t getting governmental support which is just a lie. I’ve seen “Left for dead” thrown around too which is also just untrue. This video did a great job at displaying the extensive labor and time it takes to rebuild cities/towns/states
@Trthsker24 - Lies like, FEMA isn't here, when there was an office set up in my town that I saw with my own eyes and others that were on the news (of course people who spread those lies don't watch news). Lies like, the $750 being given to those who lost their homes is a loan that has to be paid back. Lies like, FEMA was stealing what heavily armed "volunteers"(actually vloggers looking to profit off other's misery) were bringing in from out of state. How did unarmed people steal from armed " volunteers?" Funny thing is, the vloggers who were filming everything didn't show any of this. Also, they said they were being turned away. Well, yes. Duh! Roads and bridges were washed away. There were already trained responders there. Some well meaning volunteers were injured because they didn't realize the waters were highly toxic. Lies like, thousands are dead and the government is covering it up. Lies like, my buddy saw 200 bodies pulled from the water in one spot. The total death toll is a little over 100 and that includes people who had equipment accidents cleaning up weeks after the storm. Lies like, the various branches of the military were not here helping. There were actually about 3 weeks when helicopters flew over my yard all day.
Does that answer your question?
I live in Arden , just outside Asheville. I was shocked at the damage to Biltmore Village and the entrance to Biltmore Estate when I passed through to get to the hospital . Even now, months later, I still see huge mounds of tree trunks and limbs waiting to be taken away
im glad people are still making videos and doing follow ups because this shouldn't be forgotten just because the news have moved on. as a British person i have always admired how much Americans come together and help each other. I hope and pray the people here dont get forgotten because this will takes so many years and lots more support.
THIS, is what a TON of Prayers, helping hands and big machinery can do to help all that were affected by Hurricane Helene. 👍😁🙏
Thank you so much for showing us all, what's going on currently.
Branch Civil employee here. Thanks for the update on Burnsville area
Thanks for responding... even though it's social media.. Responding is a plus to these realistic videos. ❤😊
thank you for what you do
Branch civil if y’all are looking for operators. I would be there today.
Yummy
Do you need any artic driver I've operated 777cat, and every artic made
Thank you for all you do! NC is a place I grew up going to every year, sometimes several times a year. However, this is all we see, there are other areas in Tennessee and Virginia that were hit just as hard like Damascus, VA, Carter County, TN and Johnson County TN, Unicoi, TN and probably others. I really appreciate all the hard work you all are doing! Thank you!
These are the guys you want your kids looking up to. Not Hollywood clowns. Beautiful work and love seeing the pace this is getting repaired at.
You’re disgusting
Thank you for visiting WNC and bringing continued awareness to the aftermath of Helene and the disaster and devastation to communities.
Aaron and crew... good to see you here in the States working. You mentioned it not being the "fun" work normally done. Yes. However, the most rewarding work they/you will ever be involved with in their life. It will always be reminisced until they're old. Prayers be with you all, and nice work. Aaron, nice playskool hammer.🙂
thanks Bill
I have watched many of your videos, this one earned my subscription and bell. Please make the rebuilding and community restoration of this disaster a regular feature for at least the next two years. Thank you, Ken Lee.
Aaron and team thank you for covering this area as the only coverage you see anymore shows Chimney Rock and Biltmore village and the areas like Burnsville and spruce pine were absolutely devastated beyond belief. I work for the power company here and was in the middle off all of this from the time it hit. When you all said all this area was under water where the ball fields were I was there within 30 minutes of the rain stopping and it looked like a lake in that whole flat. Please continue to show the amount of work and effort it is going to take to get these folks a somewhat normal existence.
thanks for what you do
That one construction worker explains everything very well so that it's easy to see what they're doing to help rebuild. Good job!😊
May God bless all that are effected by this devastating storm. Love from Philladelphia
Spent a week Christmas week volunteering with Savage Freedoms out of Swannanoa. I was not prepared to see what we saw STILL, three months in. Thank you for continuing to highlight the devastation and efforts.
Its absolutely astonishing what this storm did and not a day goes by i don’t think about it and the people affected. Thanks for going there and showing some of the work.
Yeah im from newport tn it put a few feet of water in our downtown and im about quarter mile from the pigeon river and the night it was fully up it sounded like a freight train rolling through it was eerie. The douglas dam set a record for water it let out from like 600k and change per second to 1.2 mill gallons per second trying to control it.
Thank you good people for all your hard work on Helene’s devastation.
It’s sad that we can’t do more for you. This is a whole state not just a few rich communities. You lost your houses, communities, and the land. So sad who our government feels is important. We can learn from your strength! God bless your fortitude!!
One of the best ones yet, showcasing the amount of help given.
I really appreciate seeing recovery and rebuild efforts more than the glorification of someone's new construction. This is good, because it shows how much these companies work to giving us the things we take for granted every day, as we drive to work, the stores, and to home and take our kids out for their play dates. None of this would be possible without all the hard work these people are putting in, trying to restore our world to what we like to enjoy.
I've worked for another construction company in Virginia for 27 years, but i have to say good job to branch civil for this great job guys
Fine use of ground and drone footage to show the restoration in progress and better conceptualize the extent of devastation caused by flood waters scouring and excavating the base of the hills on either side the river. Great job to the construction teams reclaiming the rock and soil to reconstruct embankments and access for the people of western Northern Carolina.
what a cracking job those guys are doing for the local community, ✊, watching from navenby in the uk 🌍
Branch Civil employee here thanks for the update on burnsville.
Branch Civil 💪💪💪
NC 💪💪
Burnsville native here, 7th generation in yancey county. We are from Pensacola, NC. It’s still so wild, even three months later. We clean and rebuild and clean and rebuild. But we still have so much to do. We lost most of what we all had worked for for decades. My dad, a local builder and woodworker, lost his shops, barn, and heavy equipment. All we can hope for is loans to rebuild. Thank you to all these volunteers and crews coming in to help our community rebuild. Not a day goes by where we don’t cry over the memories lost to this event. We are Yancey Strong ❤
god speed
@ same to you all, thank you for the coverage
So very sorry for all the loss! God bless and help you recover. I'm giving to one group that I know I can trust, hoping you receive the help you need to rebuild.
I’ve lived here my whole life on the toe and nolichucky and have never seen the river flood like this. Thank you to everyone who has helped in my community and thank you for all the hard work from the volunteers to help us get out to the nearest towns when all the first happend we were stranded in poplar had no way to get to Erwin tennesse or Burnsville North Carolina for about 3 days no power and no cell service either when it first happened
What an awesome job these guys are doing! Amazing to think that it's taking man months to move what Mother Nature moved in hours! Thanks for sharing their story.
Thank you for covering this. I’m in eastern NC at the beach. I weep for my western brothers and sisters ❤
Amazing work , it’s nice to see a competent crew working
Those trucks, and that digger, are awesome!
This is by a long stretch one of your most relevant film productions that you have ever undertaken. Too little coverage has been allocated to showcasing the enormous upwelling that took place in the landscape, and how it transitioned into an almost unrecognizable and catastrophic unfolding of a life altering and thankfully extremely rare event.
I live here in this part of North Carolina. So thankful for all that is going on. Anyone needing supplies I'm at 18 lower pig-pin Rd. Green Mountain N.C. 28740. This is Zion Church.
Love seeing the NC flag flying on the Excavator.
ML&R. Continued prayers for you and yours. We've been sending all possible needs over, we're in NE TN and those not smashed have stepped up in our regions and makes me proud to Continue to be mountain strong. Keep up God's work! TNJR
Howdy from Little Swiss!
The excavators and rock trucks are big, strong and expensive, but it’s amazing that the water is sooooo much stronger. It will take years for the machines to put back what the water did in hours!!
Thanks for covering this. I am up in Mitcheel County, Spruce Pine and this was an insane event. We are still cleaning up.
I'm wholeheartedly in support of the work being done here. It does make me chuckle when someone says "natural path for the river" since the natural path is wherever the hell it wants to be.
As well as wherever the powers that (should not) be want it to be.
The dumptruck traffic has wrecked what little existing roads we had left in our little disaster area. They thunder through with no regard for the shoulder or oncoming cars. Ii assume they are not "from" here, they get stuck constantly and block through traffic. How did they get their CDL?WE KNOW they are working hard but are not concerned with anything but getting where they gotta go,
The river did what is was meant to do; transport water and sediment downstream. You correct in assuming that the river wants to go, but we need to learn from this experience and not try to force the river to bend to our will. If we do not change how we move forward, we will just repeat this cycle again. Meanders serve to dissipate the velocity of the river. This is especially necessary in areas where the cross section of the river is narrow. Channelizing the river will do nothing but exacerbate the issue of flooding and scour. Channelizing or straightening the river increases the velocity of it and increases the risk of flooding and scour of the river. Channelizing happens a lot in road building.
Hopefully they will use natural channel design when they rebuild these sections of the river especially those sections that hug the roadway. This will allow additional armoring of the river by using the material in the river to move the flow from the banks to the deepest part of the channel. Natural channel design uses boulders and trees to armor the river channel in addition to providing habitat for aquatic species that will need it since everything was washed away.
Thank you guys so much! We appreciate the tireless amount of hours and time away from your families to do this work. Thank you for the video showing us what's going on!! Stay safe and God bless you every single one!
thank you for watching
the water level is literally mind boggling when you see it in person, incomprehensible.
yeah it was WAAY beyond what I thought before going
It really is! Living here and seeing it everyday, yet it's still just almost impossible to wrap my head around. I work in the river arts district, an area absolutely devastated, debris and clothing 20/25 feet up in trees is still just terrifying to imagine!
What a once in a lifetime job for civil engineers and equipment operators
Cool video to see the progress in that particular area, even though it is slow rolling. Keep in mind for every large enterprise like Branch, there are dozens of smaller privately owned 1-4 man companies doing similar work for free or close to nothing just to help their neighbors out
Thanks for coming to check out our area. As one who had experience in large excavations and mining style work I wish I was available to operate. However I’m fixing the damage now on a different side.
This is a honest "rubber meets the road" expose here. Men doing dangerous work to protect and reestablish their communities by all means necessary. Projects like this need all hands on deck. College educated engineers, experienced management and supervisors, and skilled labor all coming together to get the damn job done right now. It's amazing what human beings can accomplish with the right motivations and all the extra "noise" removed.
Thank you for highlighting this important work. Kudos to you and your team for visiting once the majority of the response effort went home. Follow up videos would be awesome if you can swing it.
Wow!!! I just came across your channel, and this video is excellent!! Great music, camera and drone work. I hope you continue to follow up on this series with progress shots & info. This HANDS DOWN is the best recovery video I've seen for Helene. Praising your work and those shown i n the video.
thank you
The devastation from this storm is terrible but seeing what they're doing to rebuild is amazing. I appreciate all the footage of the heavy equipment as a fan of off-road equipment. Footage of the articulating dump trucks was really neat. Also all the information presented about the why they're allowed to drive in the river and how the road will eventually be reengineered was cool.
As a man that has lived in the Appalachian mountains their entire life and is a big fan of your videos....Thank you for the correct pronunciation!
America owes Branch Civil a huge thank you for everything they have done, and continue to do for these communities
THESE WORKERS ARE WONDERFUL. GOD GIVES EACH OF US A TALENT. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HARD WORK
Amazing, I don’t think we as Americans really see what it takes to rebuild after a disaster, this is monumental , and wondering why the military isn’t there helping to rebuild. Just an amazing feat. Thank you to you who are working, and you for the video. ❤
Civilian contractors do this for the military.
I remember losing power for 4 days because of Helene. And i live far from where Helene struck the hardest (I live in central SC). I couldn't see it at the time, but damn me and my family got off easy. May those who lost their lives rest peacefully and may those helping to rebuild be compensated for their amazing work. People have seemingly forgotten about Helene because of Hurricane Milton, despite Helene being far far worse (nearly 100% of south carolina was without electricity, and just nearly as many in NC and Georgia).
BTW, great video, extremely high quality. Almost like a short documentary.
We greatly appreciate all the hard physical labor to get us back to a new normal. Thankyou for reporting the truth about what is happening here in the Helene distaster areas. Will take many years so come volunteer. Some of these mountain roads where built with horse drawen road graders. No machines. The C.C.C. camps ruins can still be seen in Yancey county. Men with shovels and pick axe. Go devils. Cross cut saws. Check out the history of the hand dug Mica mines.
Thank you for showing this after the major media has gone. Like you so brilliantly pointed out the big company in the areas go to WORK. You show that you are a rock star. In my humble opinion 😊❤😊 your showing and going out to sites is amazing, and
People need to SEE this hard work. 😊 it takes modern heavy equipment to fix everything 😊
I've just subscribed as I'm still shocked at how much is still needed to be done in order for a sense of normality to resume in the North Carolinas ...although in reality that can never be... considering over a hundred thousand acres along the river path has been wiped out.
Its such a heartfelt tragedy that really no words can describe...you just feel it in your Spirit and Soul.
I don't even live there yet i feel strangely connected...i put it down to the terrain and vistas being extraordinarily similar to where i live in Scotland UK 🏴....the area is actually Twinned with Ashville NC ...to which a funding group was set up to help with aid being sent out...although that news came through a Month after the devestation because the News didn't reveal the extent of damage till later.
Even now nothing nor any update is forthcoming from mainstream news.
I feel so much more help is needed by way of clean up and restoration.
Although in this video its just fantastic to see Good Men in their giant machines and lorries doing so much heavy clearing work albiet they look like tonka toys compared to the huge swathes of devestation they are trying to conquer.
God Bless everyone of them. 🙏
I've seen many videos and testimonials from survivors which has become an obsession because i want to Bless each and everyone in Jesus name alongside send blessings to those mentioned who lost their Lives including the pets and animals.
This could so easily have been my village and home area....my home is right on the banks of a famous and long winding River which becomes mightily strong with powerful currents in heavy rainfall....also being in a valley surrounded by mountains and forestation....exactly like an identical twin of the Ashville town and surrounding area.
The winding road paths, river and trees of autumn colours is no different to what i see everyday.
But for me i can only say..."there by the Grace of God go i"....
Thank you for showing many of us the endurance, the love and hard work of all those combining as a Community to regain their Spirit in rebuilding their Future.
I send much Love, Blessings and Good Wishes to you all. ❤🙏🏴
Excellent Work! Thanks 😊
As a resident of WNC thank you for covering our area still. Many people, including most North Carolina residents believed that when clean water was restored to most of Asheville in early december that the disaster was over but parts of WNC are just now being uncovered. The rebuild is going to be measured in years, decades and generations.
So many people see movies that distort the truth of how long it takes to recover. Add to that a society of instant gratification and we have this unrealistic idea of how long and how difficult true recovery is after an event like this. Some areas around here will be forever changed. That is the way of mother nature. Hopefully, we'll rebuild smarter and stronger.
Bro this video cements you as not just entertaining education but actual news reporting. Thank you for finding this as an opportunity to present things differently and show off how incredibly talented you and your team are! 7:32
thank you for tuning in
That dozer driver has some balls! Working so close to an unstable edge has to be nervewrecking! 😲
I doubt it. He’s probably on verge of falling asleep.
Not really
It's great to see an update, we never see this stuff on the news.
its crazy on the drastic change all that has put on that community, right after the storm happened, I was watching some truckers that do youtube, and how they were able to help with aid on bringing supplies up to the community and one even was helping with supplies and cleanup, but its good to see that people are still working on that
Thank you so much
I am an old woman in PA. My granddaughter goes to university in North Carolina. When viewing this amazing youtube, I thank God for the company and the resources for rebuilding roads and bridges in this devastated community. I pictured this happening a 100 years ago.
Nothing probably would have been rebuilt. It was too much. I hope there will be ground cover someday. I hope some of the people will be comfortable again in that region. And I thank God for the workers who spend day after day trying to reform the land. They aren't just doing it for the money, they care about the community. Thank you for this heartfelt update.
Love the longer form videos and the background on the situation, very interesting.
thank you. Working hard to keep making them better and better
@@AaronWitt Hi Aaron I saw you on let's dig 18's, Chris's video. Watched a couple other of your videos before. I'm putting you on my list. 👍
I work for the DOT in Maine and in the spring, summer, and winter of '23 we got hit with alot of rain and waves of storms washing roads out and flooding valley towns, it took a over a year for us to finally catch up fixing all the washed out roads. But compaired to what the people in North Carolina are facing, it was nothing. Crazy the power of mother nature, and she just seems to be getting angrier and angrier.
Praying for wnc, such devastation.
This is just one place. I live in Asheville an there's scenes like this everywhere. They are still finding bodys too. There's firewood everywhere ya go, so we'll be stocked up on that subject. Prayers for all out there around me. Take care.
I've been reading that they are still finding bodies and parts of bodies. They will never all be found. So much mud that has buried everything. The SAR teams are working so hard. Praying for families and for those working so hard.
Such a tragedy..thanks for shedding light on this and the current state it’s in. Shout out to all the crews! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! 🦺
So glad to see some actual work being done in NW Carolina rather than pictures of all the damage where nothing seems to be happening
there's plenty happening that's for sure
I am amazed the EPA is allowing them to work inside the stream/river beds
Great work fellas!!!
I live in spruce pine which is the neighboring town to Burnsville and can say the mining company I work for as done a lot of work also and want to thank you
Very well done video, we took a bunch of relief to those folks. Glad to see things are getting built back. Hopefully no permit and red tape B.S. in those rivers, job has to get done. Glad to see you Chris, and other folks up there helping.
Excellent story, Aaron!
thank you for watching
Love your channel and glad you covered this!!! TH-camrs like you are the TRUE NEWS SOURCE...
Please do follow ups!!! This is just one story of the thousands just like this💯🇺🇸💯🇺🇸💯😊
Excellent video!!!
thank you
Thank you for showing us what is being done in the infrastructure. Looking forward to progress reports. What can you show us as to folks getting their lives back. Are people coming in to help? Money? Do folks/families have somewhere to live that’s warm during the winter months? God bless these folks. My heart goes out to them as well as many prayers.
Dude your channel has exploded. I remember when you had something like 12k subs. I was thinking how does he afford to travel all over. Nice work to you and the team!
thank you we've made a lot of progress!!
looks like they are doing excellent restoration work
Great Video. Would love to see a follow-up down the road.
Much love and respect thanks for sharing ❤❤❤
My gf and I just got back from our second trip to the Asheville area and the scale of the damage is huge. It will take years to clean up.
Real life Tonka trucks at work. It’s going to take years before they are back to semi-normal.
I want to say Thank you from Middle TN.
For reference, I spent 5 years moving dirt with my bobcat about 50 yards round trip through a gate, and i only moved 278,000 cubic yards
Thank you for showing this nice video
Prayers ❤ for all thes families
Incredible footage love this channel
So glad you did this video.
Thx for the update. What about the CSX update?
That is definitely not a typical construction site, well done.
Thank you
Imo this was one of your most interesting videos
I’m in the triad but been working some in western Carolina as my neighbors they are this summer of 25 I’ll be back up there some more
Shocking how much damage occurred it’s a devastating but Wow that’s a very cool project to be working on a lot of moving dirt and reconstructing to do. I think it’s very important to design and build all permanent structures to be able to handle another big flooding while maintaining the flow of water without erosion
Awesome video man! You guys crushed it.
thank you for watching
Thanks for this report showing how the community and it's people are working together to recover from Helene's devastating damage. Great work. I am curious about how the Corps of Engineers cooperated with or hindered these community efforts in issuing their permits for the emergency work in the river way. I heard no mention of their involvement. Perhaps that was to avoid addressing a sensitive or contentious issue.
I just left Green Rivier Valley a few weeks ago. The devastation is not comprehendable until you see it with your own eyes.
Love seeing my old crew mates pop up in one of your videos. The Ureinda's are a hell of a family of operators, but better people. Murph, KK, Steven, Kaleb and Terry, yall are alright too. Miss you fellas.
thanks for watching!!
Thanks for the update Aron, dont let this story go bud. Plz give us updates.
Aaron, this is important to document as there is $2.1 billon dollars being spent on Helene/Milton relief. Awesome seeing these off road dump trucks fording the river! Soutex
Great video, thank you.
For folks not in the know, each of those trucks is being loaded with several tons of rocks on each trip.... and they'll have to make thousands of trips. That's hundreds of thousands of tons of rock washed down by the floods!
I drove that section of road almost everyday to get to one of our Mobil laundry sites, I work for a company that has a bunch of mobile showers and laundry units in Asheville and surrounding areas!