He captured some of Helene’s most gripping scenes
After Hurricane Helene struck Western NC, Rey Castillo Jr. set out with his camera to document the aftermath
The following article appeared in the March 3, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Photographer Rey Castillo Jr. spent months documenting Hurricane Helene’s aftermath in Western North Carolina, sharing powerful images on Facebook to raise awareness
Photographer Rey Castillo Jr. (pictured) captured this photo of K9 Kyra, one of the dozens of canines who were on the ground completing rescue and recovery missions in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. Kyra worked with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and Henderson County Rescue Squad in Bat Cave, near Lake Lure, 100 miles west of Charlotte. (Photo courtesy of Rey Castillo Jr.)
by Lindsey Banks
The night before Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina, Rey Castillo Jr. had plans to celebrate his 46th birthday. But with a forecast for heavy rains and wind, his family canceled the party as a precaution.
He woke up at 7:30 a.m. the next morning to a text from his children, who were staying with their mother a few miles away in Swannanoa, that said a tree had fallen on their car. Castillo loaded up his chainsaw and started down his driveway.
He didn’t get far. The roads were slowly being swallowed by rising floodwaters.
“I watched storage buildings floating down the river and onto roadways,” he recalled. “I turned around and went back home but eventually was blocked. The road I came on became a swimming pool. I watched a few people attempt to cross and almost float away.”
Later that afternoon, after the water subsided enough, Castillo ventured back out on foot with his Canon R6 camera. He’s been a photographer for nearly 20 years and works evenings as the house photographer for Silverados, a bar and outdoor concert venue in Black Mountain across from the Ingles warehouse that has since turned into a relief hub for the area.
Castillo, who is deaf, is an American Sign Language instructor at Blue Ridge Community College. (For the interview for this article, he typed out the answers to a reporter’s questions on a laptop as the two sat at Dripolator, a coffee shop in Black Mountain.)
With spotty cell service and no internet access, Castillo had to travel about 70 miles to Greenville, S.C., to post his photos on Facebook. He eventually purchased a Starlink, which is a satellite internet system from SpaceX, so he could begin uploading the photos at home.
“I felt like documenting the images of the storm around here, and posting on Facebook was a way to get the outside world to know what was happening within this area,” he said.
When Hurricane Helene hit, Castillo’s sign language classes were canceled. He dedicated his free time to documenting the aftermath.
His camera allowed him to see hard-hit areas that ordinary citizens couldn’t reach, like the Swannanoa River, Lake Susan in Montreat and Bat Cave.
“I just told local officers who placed blockages that I was a freelance photographer bringing information to the outside,” he said. “They allowed me to pass through with safety. The word got around with the officers that I was bringing awareness, so I was given access to places.”
Castillo has continued to post all of his images on Facebook, permitting other Facebook users to share and repost. He doesn’t charge media outlets if they want to publish his photos, as long as they give him photo credits.
“Media departed quickly after Helene due to Milton making landfall, so it was short-lived media coverage in this area,” he said. “I have noticed my images that have been shared among media have brought back media in the area to give more spotlight.”
Castillo has shared hundreds of photos over the past four months, some of which have gone viral on Facebook.
He captured a stunning photo of a K9 cadaver dog in Bat Cave on a zipline, conducting rescue searches over the river. A photo of people living in tents in Swannanoa where their houses once sat also attracted a lot of attention:
Hurricane Helene displaced many people who once lived in houses along the river. In Swannanoa, some families lived in camping tents immediately following the storm. (Photo courtesy of Rey Castillo Jr.)
In December, Castillo shared Christmas-themed photos among the rubble in Swannanoa, bringing in nearly 3 million views. The photo series features a poignant Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus posing with Christmas decor washed away by the floods. Castillo said none of the debris was moved or posed for the photos.
“[My daughter and I] stumbled upon broken Christmas ornaments and a tree, which was probably from a storage shed, and she said, ‘Dad, Christmas doesn’t look the same,’” he said.
His photos have also helped connect people with lost items. One of the Christmas photos featured Santa picking up a once-white Build-a-Bear Workshop bear covered in dirt. The original owner’s mother saw the photo on Facebook and reached out to Castillo. He cleaned up the bear before reuniting it with its owner.
“It was one of the few things they were able to recover from their flooded home,” he said.
This photo, which was taken in Swannanoa, went viral on social media with more than 2.5 million views. The teddy bear’s owner was found through Facebook and reunited with it. (Photo courtesy of Rey Castillo Jr.)
It’s been an emotional four months, Castillo said, and he’s witnessed more of Helene’s destruction than most people. He’s seen destroyed homes, recovered bodies and animal remains. He’s communicated with people who have lost everything, and he’s traveled to areas that are years away from a full recovery.
But Castillo says he feels a responsibility to keep sharing Western North Carolina’s story with the world through his photographs, and he’s learned how important it is to document what has happened.
“I have never dreamed I could do something like this — documenting a disaster,” he said. “This is something I’m learning as I go, knowing I could do this again.”
Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com
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