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Hurricane Helene dumped a Biblical amount of rain in the Broad River watershed, nearly two feet in some places. And in the steep, spectacularly beautiful confines of Hickory Nut Gorge, where the river drops several hundred feet on its way to Lake Lure, that much water didn’t simply flood the villages along the riverbank. It obliterated large stretches in a cascading fury of mud, rock, and debris.
Places like Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, Bat Cave, and the little hamlets tucked into the coves upriver may never look the same. But the people who live there want you to know—fiercely insist that you know—that these towns are coming back.
“We’re going to rebuild,” said Nick Sottile, who owns an inn and a pizza shop, both now wrecked, in downtown Chimney Rock. “We’re a small town, but we’re a powerful town.”
Writer Eric Johnson and photographer Jesse Barber take you to the heart of these mountain towns as they figure out what comes next.
Chimney Rock As We Know It is Gone. Long Live Chimney Rock.
Tight-knit towns like Chimney Rock and Lake Lure were built on the promise of relaxed mountain living. After Helene, they face hard decisions about rebuilding.
In other ongoing storm and response coverage, Asheville-based reporter Jessica Wakeman looks at what a new kind of upheaval has meant for the city’s unhoused population. And CityView‘s Morgan Casey embeds with soldiers from Fort Liberty on a relief mission in Western N.C.
Have a news tip for our team? You can reach us at scoops@theassemblync.com.
Legislative Action
The state legislature last week unanimously passed a $273 million package aimed at providing relief to Western North Carolina after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
Lawmakers said it’s only the first round of disaster spending, with more expected as they determine what’s needed. In addition to funds for state agencies, the legislation gives schools more flexibility over their calendars and allows 25 western counties to adjust polling sites and make other election-related changes.
Emily Stephenson discussed the relief package with state Sen. Timothy Moffitt, a Republican who represents Polk, Rutherford, and Henderson counties. He’d returned to Western North Carolina shortly after its passage.
“It was great for me to see my colleagues, we delivered something meaningful to our folks back home, and then once we returned back to the scene, it was overwhelming,” he said. “And these folks were completely cut off for probably 10 days, every major artery into their community was gone.”
“The Emergency is Still in Place”
State Sen. Timothy Moffitt said the most immediate impact from a $273 million relief package will likely be improvements to roads and bridges.
What We’re Reading
Not a Relief: Emergency response personnel in Rutherford County had to stop working and relocate Saturday due to concerns about “armed militia,” the Washington Post reports
Cancer Concerns: WRAL has the scoop on a CDC investigation into a potential cancer cluster among people who previously worked in N.C. State University’s Poe Hall. We wrote about the building and other aging UNC System infrastructure in August.
Firing Up the Landscape: Southern Living looks at the meaning behind Cardinals at the Window, a benefit album that dozens of musicians from around the region put together to benefit organizations doing storm relief work.
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