On Sept 27. 2024, Hurricane Helene hit the mountains of North Carolina. The storm brought an intense amount of rain with wind speeds reaching up to one hundred MPH. It devastated the mountains, causing billions of dollars in damage and over 100 deaths, and towns to be destroyed. The storm even caught some people off guard as the mountains almost never get hit by hurricanes. Towns like Chimney Rock, Asheville, Swannanoa, Lake Lure, Burnsville, Montreat and Old Fort are among some of the areas that were affected the most. The Hurricane was the deadliest in modern North Carolina history and one of the worst in state history. Now with this in mind, let’s talk about how towns are rebuilding.
Chimney Rock is a small village east of Asheville with the downtown area sitting on the Broad River, the town got its name from the nearby Chimney Rock State Park, which is a tourist attraction in the area and is known for having a huge rock named Chimney Rock. The rock sits on the edge of a cliff, where tourists can go up onto and look at the view. This lures in millions of tourists each year, as there is also a tall waterfall nearby which you can hike to from Chimney Rock.
The village of Chimney Rock is the access point for the park, as visitors have to drive through the downtown area and cross a bridge over the Broad River. During Helene, that bridge was destroyed, and so was part of the entire downtown area. An intense amount of rain came flowing down the mountains and into the Broad River, which caused the river to flood. Most of the downtown area was flooded and swept away by the overflowing river. Many businesses had to permanently close because their shops were completely destroyed. Unfortunately, the Broad River flows into the nearby Lake Lure. The debris from Chimney Rock went right into the lake and sank to the bottom, resulting in draining various areas. Thankfully the lake is supposed to be filled back up in May of 2026, but construction crews are still working to get all of the debris out of the lake before they can safely fill it up again. This affects the people of Lake Lure as there are many houses that used to sit right on the lake but now sit in the drained areas.
Today in Chimney Rock, construction crews are working on rebuilding the town and are also trying to make the area safer, but there is still a lot of work to be done as many buildings, including shops from downtown that were completely destroyed, have to be completely rebuilt from scratch. Another thing done after the hurricane was the construction of a makeshift road that goes through parts of the old Broad River. This road was constructed as parts of the old Main Street were completely destroyed and it was too dangerous to drive on the old road. Amazingly, after the hurricane, tons of people from all over the country came to the town to donate food and clothes to the people of Chimney Rock and some even volunteered to fix up buildings.
This fall, many tourists have flocked to the area for support, which is an amazing sign for the community as it strictly relies on tourism as its main source of income. Shelly Banz- McCormack whose family owns four shops in town and is a lifelong resident of Chimney Rock, shared. “The Army showed up shortly after the hurricane to help us clean out and muck out the buildings”
Over in Asheville, there were a lot of neighborhoods that were hit badly by the hurricane. Biltmore Village, a little downtown area, constructed in the late 1890s, was of those affected. The village is located near the Biltmore Estate, which was home of the wealthy Vanderbilt family in the 20th century and is now a tourist attraction. During the hurricane, flood waters from the Swannanoa River went all the way up to the streets of Biltmore Village and flooded buildings in the town, causing a lot of businesses to close and be boarded up. Today, locals are working on rebuilding the area and are continuously working on bringing back the charm of this area.
Another area that was affected was the River Arts District, a shopping area with lots of art studios. This area flooded, as it sits right next to the French Broad River. The hurricane forced many art studios to close temporarily. Today, most of the studios have reopened and Asheville is almost completely done with rebuilding after the hurricane. Kara Irani who is the director of public relations for the Historic Biltmore Village Association, shared, “This community is really determined and motivated to preserve the historic nature of our area as well as continue its vibrance as a destination for people visiting Asheville, for people who live here.”
The economy of the North Carolina mountains runs on tourism because of the many attractions that they have. However since the hurricane, tourism in the mountains has suffered in many areas. The storm made travel impossible to various parts of the mountains, badly affecting the economy.
The hurricane is still affecting school students in the mountains as many haven’t returned to school since. Micaville Elementary School in Burnsville was forced to close permanently as they were hit badly by the hurricane, forcing students to relocate to other schools in the area. Owen Middle School in Swannanoa had to close for five weeks because of flood damage to the building but thankfully is completely fine today.
The hurricane was extremely devastating for many communities in North Carolina, leaving permanent effects. Fortunately many areas of the mountains have almost completely recovered. But the effects can still be seen in various other areas. Unfortunately it could take up to 5 years to completely recover and rebuild from the storm.
