Jack Sorokinjack@jacksorokin.com
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Hurricane Helene

Documentary · TIME, The Bitter Southerner, Art in America

49 photographs

Photographs from Marshall, North Carolina, following Hurricane Helene. A published assignment for TIME.

Three of these photographs were shown in Western North Carolina: 6 Months Later, Button Studios, Brooklyn, 2025.

Photographs from my Helene coverage also ran in The Bitter Southerner (2024) and Art in America (2025).

The TIME story
The Bitter Southerner story
The Art in America story

The Coal, Feed & Lumber building on Main Street, its ground floor emptied and flood debris piled out front, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
01
A man in overalls and a mask sits on the step of a boarded-up storefront, flowers in the foreground, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
02
A tall plant still standing in the silt against a brick wall, beside a barred window, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
03
A mud-caked bicycle leans against a brick wall, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
04
A church attendance board coated in mud, last Sunday's offering still posted, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
05
A cafe counter and chalkboard menu in a gutted room, mud across the floor, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
06
A volunteer in a white protective suit and respirator stands in a brick doorway with a shovel, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
07
Main Street under a layer of mud, power poles leaning and the church steeple behind, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
08
A potted plant and a chalkboard in a mud-covered classroom, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
09
Volunteers carry ruined fixtures out of a storefront onto Main Street, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
10
Light falls across an upstairs room where salvaged furniture and frames are stacked, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
11
A downtown storefront with a hand-painted sign in the window, debris along the sidewalk, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
12
A mud-stained bar back inside a flooded building, a window hanging loose, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
13
Muddy handprints smeared across a wall between two small masks, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
14
Mud-coated chef's coats still hanging on a rack, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
15
A battered "Thank You for Visiting Marshall" sign leaning in flood debris, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
16
A jar of free condoms with a handwritten note: because disaster does not diminish desire, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
17
Two volunteers in muddy protective suits rest on a stoop, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
18
A man stands in his flooded studio among scattered art supplies, a painting still on the wall above him, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
19
An older man in a blue shirt sits at the controls of an excavator, door open, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
20
Two volunteers in mud-streaked suits pause in the street, portable toilets behind them, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
21
Two soldiers carrying chainsaws walk across the mud-covered bridge into town, fog in the hills, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
22
Soldiers shovel mud inside a building, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
23
A children's book lying face up in the mud, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
24
A mud-streaked instant photo of a crowd, pinned beneath a North Carolina sign, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
25
A boot covered in handwritten notes and tape, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
26
Two volunteers in white suits look over a pile of debris beside a brick school building, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
27
A woman sorts through a tangle of wire on broken concrete, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
28
Salvaged tools laid out to dry on a blue tarp, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
29
A hammer and scattered tools half buried in silt on a floor, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
30
A small sign stands alone in a field of driftwood and debris at the edge of the woods, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
31
A gilded mirror propped in a dark, gutted room, catching the light, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
32
Paper lanterns still hanging over an emptied hall, mud on the floor, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
33
Soldiers look over a damaged wood-paneled room, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
34
A soldier carries a chainsaw on his shoulder down a muddy street, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
35
Neighbors talk in a circle on Main Street, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
36
Soldiers take a break outside a brick building, one shading his eyes, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
37
A worker pressure-washes mud from a sunlit room with tall windows, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
38
A volunteer in a white suit power-washes a patio under string lights, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
39
Shelves of glazed pottery, a person seated in the open doorway beyond, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
40
A man stands in the back door of a brick building, an American flag on the porch, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
41
A soldier stands against a mud-streaked white wall beside a doorway, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
42
Volunteers squeegee water across a wide, sunlit warehouse floor, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
43
Three volunteers in white suits scrub a mud-lined wall, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
44
Names, hearts and a thank you written in chalk on a classroom blackboard, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
45
Two people embrace on Main Street as others look on, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
46
A line of soldiers walks across the bridge into town, fog over the hills, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
47
The French Broad River at dusk, seen past a broken section of bridge railing, Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
48
The TIME magazine print spread of this story, photographs of Marshall, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene.
49

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jack@jacksorokin.com