One year later: Hurricane Helene Resilience in Toombs County

VIDALIA, Ga. (WTOC) - Clear skies and a long history of storms gave the people of Vidalia a false sense of security the day before Hurricane Helene hit.

Eric and Kellyn Wilkes thought it would be just another storm.

“I think my quote was, we probably just lost power for a few days,” Eric said.

Even state leaders felt prepared.

“This was not something unexpected or new to us,” said Georgia State Senator Blake Tillery. “Nothing new, we had been through storms before.”

But nothing could have prepared them for what was coming.

As the storm warnings grew more urgent, families huddled together, waiting for Helene’s arrival.

It’s a day many Middle Georgians will never forget and never wish to relive.

“You could hear the trees going,” Vidalia Mayor Doug Roper said. “What was unsettling was you didn’t know if the tree was coming towards you or away from you.”

For Eric and Kellyn, that fear became reality.“I really only worried about that tree,” Kellyn said. “And it did exactly what I was afraid it would do.”

No home was untouched. Virtually every inch of Toombs County saw destruction. When the sun rose over Vidalia, Mayor Roper saw the devastation for the first time.

“We were dealt a hand… that I don’t think any amount of preparation would have prepared us for.”

Overnight, the winds ripped through the county, leaving a trail of heartbreak.

Homes, like the one where the Wilkes family lived with their three boys, were battered, broken, and crushed.

“I could see the pine limbs were through the roof, into the living room floor,” Eric said.

Businesses were hit just as hard. The Tree House Bar and Grill, built from its namesake trees, was left in ruins.

“When I turned the corner up there, I could see the canopy was all gone,” said co-owner Ross Kelly.

Residents were cut off from power, water, food and even each other.

“You couldn’t bike, you couldn’t walk, you couldn’t run because you could not get around the trees,” said Senator Tillery.

But in the wreckage, something remarkable happened.

“After, out of nowhere, we just saw people cleaning up, cutting out pieces of the tree, unprompted, without asking,” Kellyn said. “People just came and helped where they could.”

With grit and determination, Vidalia began one of the greatest comeback stories the town has ever seen.“Once we made the commitment to rebuild, there wasn’t much that could have stopped us,” said Ross Kelly.

Layer by layer, the town is rebuilding stronger than before.

“We are a year away, and I don’t see any weakness that it caused,” Eric said. “Only strength.”

Cleanup has been exhausting. More than 3 million cubic yards of debris have already been removed, but the scars are still visible.

“We are a lot better off now,” said Mayor Roper. “But it changed components of our community that are going to take 20–25 years to come back.”

Hurricane Helene left her mark but the people she struck hardest proved to be an even greater force.

“It’s days we never want to relive,” Eric said. “But days you can look back on and be proud of how your community came together.”