WHEELER COUNTY, Ga. — People are making progress in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Wheeler County.
Since the storm made landfall, 13WMAZ has continued to send crews to check on recovery efforts in the hardest-hit Central Georgia areas.
At the Points of Distribution (POD) Centers, some Wheeler residents are still relying on emergency services and donations.
Emergency Management Director Steve Adams said his community wouldn't be doing as well as it is now without the help of outside agencies.
"I'm talking about the National Guard coming and helping us out, and prior to that, we had volunteers, Georgia Forestry, and multiple volunteers," Adams explained. "There was a team in Montana with experts in it, and they came in and helped us. They have blended in very well, just like they were born and raised here."
Nick Holloway is the Deputy Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator in Missoula County, Montana.
"We're helping them reign in the chaotic situation into an organized structure so they can go about getting at the jobs they need to do in a coordinated manner," Holloway said. "There's nothing like community."
In neighborhoods like Hole Spur Road, neighbors are helping neighbors.
Serving on water from a well, longtime residents are still holding their ground after Hurricane Helene.
"We've been using this going on two weeks," Montavis Chapman said. "We fed the whole neighborhood."
Among sprawled shrubs and trees hanging on power lines, Chapman and his neighbors survived the storm.
Now, they're recovering in the aftermath.
"When they get that tree off the line, we'll know something we'll have some hope then," Chapman said.
Across the street from him is Herman L. Perry Sr.'s pine tree forest.
"I got all the pine trees leaning," he said as we walked through his yard. "I might have to get them cut down."
There's about 200 trees that were planted by a friend's son when he was about four years ago, Perry said.
"I call him 'Sunny Boy' and he did this when he was about 4," he explained.
Some swayed during the storm, and some snapped. But some are still standing.
Many limbs are scattered across his family's property. Perry showed us a branch that snapped, broke and landed on his brother's home.
While the folks on Hole Spur Road wait for help to arrive and bring the power back on, they're keeping an eye on one another.
"Government is great, but people checking on each other is the best thing we have," Holloway said.
One sign of progress in Wheeler County is that one of the two distribution centers closed over the weekend.
Adams said that's a good thing because most people are slowly recovering.
"Now that we're somewhat under control, we can control the end of our destiny," Adams said.
If you want to help people recover from Helene, you can find a verified organization raising money for survivors here.