Putting the truck into park, my girlfriend, Sarah, and I finally returned to our quaint apartment in downtown Waynesville Monday evening. After a long journey from the North Carolina coast back to Haywood County this weekend, it’s been a whirlwind of emotions.  

Tropical Storm Helene was predicted to bring significant flooding to Western North Carolina, but it's hard to fathom how much destruction has actually been wrought. As the storm developed, readers from around the area sent photos into Smoky Mountain News. Here's a look at some of them. 

• BearWaters 1 BearWaters 1
• BearWaters 2 BearWaters 2
• Thompson Cove Thompson Cove
• Downtown Clyde Downtown Clyde
• Clyde House Clyde House
• Clyde bridge Clyde bridge
• Coleman Mountain Bridge 1 Coleman Mountain Bridge 1
• Coleman Mountain Bridge 2 Coleman Mountain Bridge 2
• Frog Level flooding Frog Level flooding
• Maggie Valley landslide Maggie Valley landslide
• Wanyesville flooding Wanyesville flooding
• Macon County flooding Macon County flooding
• Canton Moose Lodge Canton Moose Lodge
• Downtown Canton Downtown Canton
• Waynesville Ingles Waynesville Ingles
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Haywood Community College, in partnership with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission are hosting an event on the campus of Haywood Community College to celebrate our national conservation heritage.

Haywood Regional Medical Center announced the launch of a convenient walk-in mammography clinic at the HRMC Breast Center, located on the second floor of the Outpatient Care Center at 581 Leroy George Drive in Clyde. 

Haywood Waterways is calling for volunteers to take part in a county-wide cleanup event that removes tons of trash from local waterways and roadways. 

The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 980 holds its regular meetings on the third Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m. in the Sara Brown Town Hall in Clyde. 

Tourism remains a critically important component of Western North Carolina’s economy. To ensure it remains strong well into the future, the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is fine-tuning a forthcoming destination master plan that focuses on underutilized assets and what visitors seem to really want — authenticity. 

Haywood Regional Medical Center (HRMC) is thrilled to announce the addition of a new mammography unit that will significantly enhance breast imaging services locally.

The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible murder in the Panther Creek area of Clyde.  

This July, the American Red Cross continues to stress that blood and platelet donors are critically needed to support lifesaving transfusions this summer.