Hurricane Helene devastated much of western North Carolina like no other storm in recent history.
The rain poured down the mountains, acting as a funnel into the already swollen streams and creeks that flow into the Broad, Toe and Swannanoa rivers. The red clay soil, already saturated with water from three days of rain, quickly turned into a scarlet soup, triggering landslides and taking with it benches, forests and buildings. Strong winds tore trees from the watery soil and slammed them into rooftops and power lines.
The sidewalks and roads creaked like eggshells. The rivers, loaded with water and mud, rose in a matter of minutes. Flash floods swept away bridges, trees and homes, and some residents woke up to find water splashing next to their beds. For many people living in North Carolina, evacuation orders came too late, as they climbed onto their roofs with only the clothes on their backs, their children in blankets and their pets in their arms.
The losses were catastrophic. More than 200 people they lost their livesand Buncombe County, home to Asheville, Black Mountain and Swannanoa, accounts for nearly half of the state’s deaths. More than 100,000 homes were destroyed or severely damaged by the storm, leaving thousands of people homeless or without power during the rapidly cooling months.
Even now, nearly three months after the storm, North Carolina residents are still slowly picking up the pieces of the storm as they fight to reclaim their homes and businesses. business.
Decades of work wiped out in minutes
Laura Rathbone, manager of Olde World Christmas Shoppe in Biltmore Village, Asheville, woke up at 6 a.m. the morning Helene arrived in North Carolina feeling relieved.
“They were broadcasting news from our plaza here in town,” he said. “I called the owner and his daughter and told them we don’t have water in the store.”
However, a few hours later, the situation changed. The French Broad River rose brutally from its banks, dumping thick water and sediment on historic Biltmore Village. At the time, it was too dangerous to travel on the water-clogged roads, so all Rathbone could do was watch the water rise.
The flood receded five days later, leaving behind a scene of devastation.
“We couldn’t get in that day because the doors had swollen,” Rathbone said. “We could look out the windows and see that we lost everything on that bottom floor.”
The water had entered nine feet into the tent, leaving several inches of thick, toxic mud. Display cases were overturned and the Christmas products that the Olde World Christmas store was known for had already begun to mold.
Further west, Larry Smith, owner of the Mountain Top Fraser Fir Christmas tree farm in Newland, had moved his tree harvesting equipment to higher ground before the storm.
However, no one could have predicted the Niagara Falls-force water that came down the mountain and through the screaming Appalachians. Oak and pine trees snapped like toothpicks, bringing down power lines, while landslides and rocks the size of buildings washed away roads in seconds.
“In some places it looks like a tsunami,” Smith said. “They just, you know, took all the trees and everything,” Smith said.
Smith lost harvesting equipment that had not been moved, as well as a barn his grandfather had built. The floods also wiped out trees in low-lying areas and the family’s entire Halloween pumpkin crop.
“[There were] “10- and 15-foot pumpkins stood in the trees and hung like ornaments,” according to Smith. “Can’t help but laugh at that, I guess.”
Ruined stock, destroyed buildings and lost customers
For a seasonal store like Olde World Christmas Shoppe, the hurricane couldn’t have come at a worse time. The store orders most of its products in late summer and relies on a flood of sales in the fall and into winter to cover its bills.
Ruined stock left the store with bills to pay, and hazards left by the hurricane cut off the essential channel of tourists and shoppers the store depended on in its peak season. Even after Asheville reopened, Biltmore Village was still under reconstruction.
“Our building hasn’t been condemned, so we’re in a good spot,” Rathbone said. “But all our windows have been scratched and all the electrical wiring will have to be moved upstairs, and all the floors and walls will have to be replaced. “It’s a pretty high price for this one.”
Western North Carolina’s disaster zone status was an additional hurdle in many businesses’ plans. With many official roads closed to traffic as essential aid arrived, businesses lost foot traffic at the peak of the state’s fall tourist season.
For entrepreneurs, official help is still far away
Amid the storm’s destruction, help has arrived in fragments. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided some assistance in the most damaged areas in the form of disaster relief funds and assistance for repairs and cleanup.
Others have relied on nonprofit and volunteer organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse and religious groups, especially in the more remote areas of western North Carolina.
The owner of the Olde World Christmas store requested a SBA Disaster Loan and assistance from FEMABut no help has come through those channels, Rathbone said.
He SBA Disaster Loan Program is currently in a complicated situation. Financing of the loan program. it’s over in the month of October. While businesses can still apply for a disaster relief loan, and the SBA processes the application while they wait for funding, business owners who urgently need the loans are currently in limbo.
Congress finally passed a bill which will replenish SBA funds on December 20, 2024, providing much-needed relief to businesses awaiting their loans after more than three months of waiting. However, it is yet to be determined how long the approval and distribution process will take as companies struggle to stay afloat in the wake of the hurricane.
For many business owners, the remote nature of the North Carolina mountains has put them in a difficult situation.
Roads and bridges leading to Smith’s Christmas Tree Farm in Newland were severely damaged. With FEMA still assessing damage to much of the roads and Christmas tree season quickly approaching, Smith relied on friends and family to clear roads of debris and excavate landslides before they could haul the lot. of Christmas trees this year.
“A lot of religious and civic groups have come, bringing supplies and everything, cleaning out basements,” Smith said. “We lost the bridge across the river, so hopefully we can get help getting our roads back, but I think that’s still to be determined.”
Community Hope
Despite the devastation of the hurricane, communities, organizations and individuals both inside and outside of North Carolina have stepped up to help businesses affected by the hurricane.
For Rathbone and Olde World Christmas Shoppe, Asheville’s business community stepped in just as the holiday shopping season began.
The Olde World Christmas Shoppe is now open on Asheville’s Wall Street as a pop-up, located in a storefront space offered courtesy of local restaurant Chai Pani.
“They’re giving us retail space through Jan. 4, for free, which is an overwhelming act of kindness for a small business like ours, and especially now in the holiday season,” Rathbone said.
The Shoppe’s presence on Wall Street is also part of Miracle on Wall Street, an effort by the Asheville business community to showcase and provide temporary space to businesses devastated by the hurricane.
On Sunday, December 8, the closed street attracted a healthy crowd even late in the day, with shoppers purchasing hot chocolate and cider at a stall, admiring jewelry and pottery from local artists, and enjoying the festive display at the Shoppe’s. popup window.
“It’s been wonderful,” Rathbone said. “Ashevilleans are stepping up and shopping in Asheville, which is great. “It’s been fantastic to see these outpourings of love and care for all of us and that’s what’s helping us get through mentally and be all together right now.”
The Smith Family Christmas tree stands in Lenoir, Ballantyne and other locations have also done well.
“There have been people who generally had an artificial tree [who are] buy a real tree just to support the community,” Smith said. “That’s putting money to help us get a road, to give money back to the communities there.”
An uncertain future
Unfortunately, as businesses close due to the hurricane’s devastation, their communities lose a vital source of income, taxes and services.
“Some people I really don’t know what they were going to do,” Smith added. “They lost their homes, their jobs, their vehicles. “A lot of those people live paycheck to paycheck.”
Even with the damage to Smith’s farm, he said his family was much luckier than others.
“I’ve had some friends who also do Christmas trees and things for nurseries, and they’ve lost up to 75 percent of their plants,” Smith said. “Some of them lost a lot of equipment and everything. “It has changed the landscape there forever.”
Even with strong support from locals, Rathbone fears for the future of The Olde Worlde Christmas Shoppe, especially as bills are coming in from cleaning up the original building. While the owner has set up a GoFundMe to help cover some of the cleanup costs, it may not be enough.
“We don’t know at this point if we’ll be able to be a Christmas store again,” Rathbone said. “I don’t know if we can continue.”
how to help
For businesses recovering from Helene, support will be crucial in the coming months. Buying little and often, especially after the press dies down, will help.
For those outside Western North Carolina, shopping online at local businesses or even calling and requesting items can generate much-needed sales.
“We will text a photo to our phone if necessary and mail it to you the next day,” Rathbone said.
Rathbone also encouraged visitors to include Asheville and the surrounding area on their vacation destination lists and help keep the city’s unique mountain charm alive.
“Keep Asheville in your thoughts and travel plans,” he said. “This community will depend on small businesses. That’s what makes Asheville so great. So I really hope that people support that whole community and understand the importance of that, and maybe come to the mountains this year instead of going to the beach.”