( NewsNation) — North Carolina Hurricane Helene victims are struggling and feeling forgotten as winter approaches. Temperatures are dropping, and many hurricane survivors are living in tents or trailers without insulation. More than 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene across Western North Carolina.

It was the regionality and subject matter but also the steel underneath the quiet tale that called it to mind when I spoke to Jennifer Greene, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association recently,

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation estimate that a portion of I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge will be open to traffic by the start of the new year.