Carolyn Burgess, 71, drove on cracked and crooked roads in Black Mountain, N.C., to get to her polling place on Thursday, the state’s first day of early voting. Hurricane Helene had devastated her town, and its 8,500 residents were divided on the government response.

Ms. Burgess agreed with the Republican she was supporting for president: “Trump is right,” she said, standing in line to vote at the Black Mountain Public Library. “FEMA isn’t doing enough.”

Toward the back of the line was Matthew Slauson, 68, a Democrat fed up with former President Donald J. Trump’s false claims about the Biden administration’s handling of the disaster. “Catastrophes around the country are happening more and more,” he said. “That’s why everyone here needs to vote.”

Scarred by the extraordinary amounts of rain that unleashed deadly flooding and road-crushing mudslides last month, the people of western North Carolina are heading into voting booths with a difficult new question in mind: Which candidates will best help them heal and rebuild after one of the worst natural disasters in the United States in decades?