Evacuations are now underway in Henderson and Polk counties in North Carolina due to wildfires in the Black Cove area. For the very latest on evacuations click here. | See the latest evacuation map here.

Evacuation orders were issued Sunday for parts of Polk County, North Carolina, where three large wildfires have burned more than 4,000 acres combined, officials said.

Due to Hurricane Helene, the environmental landscape has been radically changed, Dossett said. He said the storm caused major canopy destruction and breakage of large, mature trees, which provided abundant fuel for wildfires to break out as the trees dry.