In one of the hardest hit areas in Asheville, people stood in line on the first day of early voting Thursday. In the Helene disaster area, the state is down four of 80 early voting sites because of storm damage. All the sites have power, but some of them don’t have running water.

In 1916, a catastrophic flood killed at least 80 people and wiped out roads and railways in Asheville. How did tropical storm Helene compare?

Early voting was the most popular way for North Carolinians to cast a ballot in both the 2020 and 2016 elections, according to the state.