In Bat Cave, a tight-knit NC community deeply divided after Helene [Video]

BAT CAVE, N.C. (WBTV) — Sitting where three roads meet in the mountains east of Asheville, few people from outside North Carolina likely knew Bat Cave’s name before Helene.

It’s the sort of unincorporated community where everyone really does know everyone.

Today, the community has shifted. Online tensions and misinformation have divided them. Numerous people from outside the area or state coming in to help or tour damage have shared their experiences in viral online videos, often with incomplete information.

But even within the community itself, stories of who has been helped and whether the government has fully stepped up can shift depending on each resident’s personal experience. While some have no complaints, others tell WBTV that government assistance has lagged behind what they would have wanted.

Those first few days blur into one for Laura. Reedypatch Creek, which flows into the Broad River that runs through Bat Cave, roared …