‘A story of triumph': Cocke County community continues cleanup eight months after Helene
COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — It has been eight months since Hurricane Helene left portions of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina in ruin as flood waters took out everything in its path.
The motto Cocke County strong has been ringing through the are since the storm first hit as the area continues to get back to a sense of normalcy.
'It's been an honor to be a part of it, especially to watch it happen and see how everyone is pulling together,' Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis said. 'We are not just rebuilding, we are continuing the momentum of growth and advancement that we are experiencing, that momentum we built is continuing even through this rebuilding phase.'
Some of the areas hardest hit include Hartford, the Edwina community and those along Denton Road. One homeowner who lives along highway 73 says there are no words to describe what the last eight months have been like.
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'It's different. It's very, I don't know how to explain it,' Tera who lives across from the Pigeon River said. 'It's something that I never thought we'd have to go through but you just keep going.'
Tera and her family are not originally from the Cocke County area but say after seeing how the community came together, they made the right choice in moving there.
'We actually moved or bought the house two years ago,' Tera said. 'We didn't really know anybody, still don't. We just feel a lot closer, it feels like we picked the right place to live.'
Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis saying they've already done a lot of work and are making progress, unemployment in the area has seen a decrease and is now below 4.5% and there is a new industrial park that will be opening, but there's still a lot to be done.
'This is a story in three acts. The first two acts are the stories of the disaster and the response and the recovery,' Mathis said. 'The third act is the recovery, ultimately it's not a story of disaster but at the end it will be a story of triumph. Right now, we are at the foothills of that third act.'
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Mathis adding, as they have been saying from the beginning of the recovery and rebuilding process, they will come out stronger than they were before the storm.
Mayor Mathis also telling 6 News, it's going to take time to get back to a full sense of normalcy and bad things happen quick, but good things take time.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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