Before Helene, her ministry helped the homeless in her town. Now, she lives among them | National & World [Video]

Swannanoa, North Carolina (CNN) — Before the storm, the natural beauty of this place was Cindy Riley’s source of comfort and peace, its river and creeks part of what called her to move back home after decades away.

While Swannanoa may not be as wealthy as nearby Asheville and other neighboring towns, Riley gained a sense of purpose, she said, in her job helping homeless and poor mothers, even if some of their interactions were terse or the work itself stirred a sense of distrust and fear from the wider community.

Never did Riley, who’d trained as a disaster relief chaplain, dream she would one day face a life crisis like those she’d helped her clients surmount.

Then, the floodwaters came.

It’s been exactly one month since Hurricane Helene unleashed a delugeon Western North Carolina, swelling rivers and dams until the waters burst from their banks with such terrifying force, they washed away anything in their …