ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WROC) — A week after the rain began to fall in Western North Carolina and across the Appalachian Mountains, pictures, videos, and news are still filtering in from the region documenting the devastation that occurred in Helene’s wake. For many this was a harrowing experience, that hasn’t been fully processed yet. For Heather Taylor, an ex-Rochester resident who has called Asheville, NC home for the last 8 years and who while evacuated now, lived through the initial days before and after Helene blew through.  “Once we discovered though that the phones were off and we couldn't send text messages out and we were feeling like we were on an island. We couldn't reach our friends. We couldn't reach our family. All we had was we could walk to neighbor's houses,” said Taylor.  For many that is still the reality, with basic services such as water, power, and cellular signals still hard to come by in the most heavily impacted areas nearly a week later.  “What we were hearing was not really a lot, to be honest. Like we had to tune into the tune into the radio. To really hear about the magnitude,” said Taylor.  The rain started nearly 36 hours before Helene made landfall on the Florida coast on Thursday night as the outer bands of the storm interacted with the Appalachian mountains and a stalled out front draped across the region. “There was a bunch of rain before the hurricane even started. And so there's floods are starting to happen in different areas. So that took away a day of prep for certain people. And then the [storm] hit,” said Taylor.  As the storm pushed inland it weakened from a Category 4 Hurricane to a Tropical Storm as it crossed into the Carolinas. At this point the storm's strength meant little, as no matter what it was it was wreaking havoc wherever it tracked.  “I didn't sleep at all that night. Like the winds were just incredibly loud. I kept on looking out the windows. There's tons of trees around us thinking that I was going to fall on the house,” said Taylor. “The power was off but our water was still on for a little while.” From there as communications were down, and many aspects of life that many take for granted had washed away all they could do was focus on how to survive and make it to the next task. “We could get in the car but we weren't sure about landslides [...] we heard through the grapevine there might be some gas somewhere. So we ended up driving around for a while. Some people were parked out of gas stations just out of the hope that they would turn on,” said Taylor.  “I think it took two to three hours like these small little activities were taking half of a day.” With no power, and the blanket statement from the NCDOT that all roads in the area should be considered closed it was chaotic on the roads and beyond. But despite it all community prevailed in most cases.  “I met more neighbors than I ever have. Everybody just started to just talk to each other randomly. You know, it felt like the best of who we are in a lot of ways,” said Taylor. “Some people would be distributing food from their own fridges in the first couple of days because everything was going to rot.” While some of the initial rush has ended, and more rescuers and relief is pushing into Western North Carolina the road ahead is longer than many can even imagine.  “Everything needs to be done still there's still no water to the majority of houses which means lots of chaos still and lots of anxiety still. Some people I hear starting to get power back,” said Taylor. “Some people are saying a few months for water because the main line got washed away to the main line to the city.” “The water is receding. One of the main things is that once the water recedes people can get in there and rebuild and rebuild the water lines and help with the power lines help with the Internet.” If you do want to help, Heather, and others are urging you to donate and be involved but from afar from now. Trying to enter the region is dangerous with multiple roads, and main arteries closed or still damaged.  “I know a lot of people are trying to see if they can come down themselves physically. But the main thing right now is to get out so that we're not congesting the roads. So we're not putting anybody else in danger [...] I think that donating what you can, any little thing would be amazing. But right now the relief efforts are happening with the bigger organizations.” Below are several organizations sent by Heather that are actively working in the region and need more assistance to continue doing the critical work on the ground in their communities:  https://www.heartswithhands.orgbelovedasheville.com https://theleaf.orghttps://homewardboundwnc.org https://www.ashevillehumane.org News 8 also has compiled a list of resources and trusted organizations that you can donate too as well here: