New York crews work to reestablish power along the North Carolina-Tennessee border after Hurricane Helene

In Trade, a Tennessee border town, a crew is working to erect new power lines for the Mountain Electric Cooperative, which provides energy to the region. The workers are from Fredonia, New York, which sits on the Canadian border.

Zael Kravitz operates a 21-ton material handler. He has to drive it carefully, as most of the road has fallen into a newly formed 90-foot ravine.

Kravitz uses the machine’s crane to move felled trees and cut down new ones to make way for the powerlines. The machine, which stretches as far as 47 feet into the air, takes seconds to move and cut down trees. 

"It is a real mess," Kravitz said. "This whole road is washed out, you can see down farther where all the water came through and swept through all the houses and rolled them all over. You definitely have to be careful going through and not getting too close to areas that are unstable."

Kravitz said it will take a few days to put up the new lines. He’s been working here since Tuesday.

According to its website, Mountain Electric Cooperative currently has 12,000 customers without power in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Santiago Ochoa covers healthcare for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. Follow him on X and Instagram: @santi8a98