Even as the state recovers from a devastating hurricane, more than 350,000 North Carolinians cast ballots on Thursday.

As North Carolinians continue to recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, early voting begins Thursday in the critical swing state.

On the first day of early voting, residents of western North Carolina weighed which candidates would most help their yearslong recovery.

Early in-person voting has started in the presidential battleground state of North Carolina. That includes in the mountains, where some potential voters still lack power and clean running water after Hurricane Helene’s epic flooding last month.

State officials are tracking impassable roads and contacting voters who requested absentee ballots to try to get them delivered.

“Yesterday’s turnout is a clear sign that voters are energized about this election, that they trust the elections process, and that a hurricane will not stop North Carolinians from exercising their right to vote,” Brinson Bell said in a press release Friday.

The more than 353,000 ballots cast signaled enthusiasm in the battleground state, but the significance of the high turnout was unclear.

In spite of the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, a record number of North Carolinians casted a vote on the first day of early voting in the state.

Early voting begins in the battleground state of North Carolina on Thursday, as the western part of the state still feels the impacts of Hurricane Helene’s flooding three weeks later. More than 400 voting locations in the state’s 100 counties were expected to open Thursday for the early voting period,

Unlike some other swing states, it won’t take days to know which presidential candidate won in the Tar Heel state.

North Carolina voters set a first-day early voting record despite ongoing hurricane recovery efforts across the state. Residents cast 353,166 in-person ballots Thursday, the state’s board of elections said,