Marshall overwhelmed by mud: Residents struggle to dig out after Helene flooding

The town of Marshall is covered in feet of mud, and people are wearing masks because of dust in the area.

Volunteers and people digging out their homes and businesses are also wearing coveralls, before the mud covers them too.

“We’ve been shoveling pretty much solid since Sunday,” said Becca Phillips.

Phillips said she and her family are digging out their second home.

“All the furniture is destroyed. It’s all piled outside,” Phillips said. “We’ll eventually have to replace the walls, the electrical, the plumbing.”

People in the area are worried it’s potentially toxic, with everything that got swept up in this flood.

“We watched this building go down Main Street, and turn and just devastate everything it hit,” Marshall resident Justin Silver said.

The water also twisted railroad tracks and tossed a rail car multiple blocks.

“We have been shoveling, and it has just been shoveling mud nonstop,” said Marshall resident Matt Jones.

Jones said he watched the flood from a nearby rooftop.

“It was wild to be sitting out here, and you see a house coming down the river,” Jones said.

Jones said cleaning up the mess left behind is taking a toll, both physical and emotional.

“Once it was done, it was just waves of emotion that still hit now,” Jones said. “You’ll be fine one second, and the next you just break down crying.”

The town also lost some of its most well-known venues, including the Marshall Depot music hall.

On Thursday, crews tore down buildings that took too much damage.