But as the company’s co-founders made calls to farming contacts beyond their home of Forest City, about 60 miles southeast of Asheville, Beam and Green learned that potable water was much harder to come by elsewhere in the region, especially in rural areas with challenging logistics. So, they sprang into action, bottling and shipping water directly to places in need, all while keeping up their usual milk production.

Food and agriculture businesses across Western North Carolina are telling similar stories amid the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Although Helene had weakened into a tropical storm by the time it reached the area, it was still the region’s worst storm since 1916.