The first time Craig Allen worked on cleaning up from a major storm was after Hurricane Fran in 1996. He was still in the Army then and went to Carolina Beach to help with recovery there.

But Helene has been a different experience. 

Thousands of members of the National Guard and active duty soldiers from Fort Liberty helped move supplies and clear debris after Helene caused devastating floods in the North Carolina mountains on Sept. 27. Veterans also brought their experience to help with the cleanup since Helene hit. 

“It makes me feel blessed to be able to be here to help these people,” Allen said. 

“Coming up here, they don’t really get hurricanes here. So this is new to them. So being here and helping them bring back some sense of normalcy is inspiring to me to be able to do that,” he said. 

He retired from the Army in the 2000s and started working with the City of Fayetteville 17 years ago. He’s now a supervisor for a team in the city’s Public Services Department, which handles things like road work, stormwater and traffic control. 

Allen and his team spent two weeks in western North Carolina helping clean up the mess left by Helene. They brought heavy equipment to clear trees and other debris in Hendersonville, south of Asheville.

“My team has done a fabulous job up here. They’re moving and hauling debris. They’re moving a lot of debris. They are in great spirits. They’re happy to be up here to help. And they just want to help our fellow North Carolinians,” he said.

People in Fayetteville are no strangers to hurricanes and what they can do to communities. He also knows how long recovery can take. In his job with the city, Allen helped in the response to hurricanes Matthew and Florence.

“Here, there’s a lot of trees down. And stuff. At the beach, you’ve got a lot of sand. As well as the tree debris to work with,” Allen said.

But some things are the same no matter where a disaster hits: ”A lot of machinery. A lot of hauling. A lot of directing.”