Asheville in the Aftermath: Hurricane Helene Recovery

In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall off the Florida coast as one of the strongest storms to hit the gulf in years. As the winds died down and Helene was downgraded to a tropical storm, it stalled over the mountains of Southern Appalachia dropping up to thirty inches of rain with sustained wind gusts over sixty miles per hour. Nearly two months of drought followed by a week of rain left soil saturated and unstable.  

The following devastation was unfathomable. The winds devastated an approximate 800,000 acres of timber land, the creeks in the mountains surged across 25 counties destroying everything in their path, and as the rivers swelled, neighboring communities were lost in the raging waters. The flooding that resulted was the worst in recorded history, the French Broad River rose to a historic thirty feet deep, the Swannanoa to twenty-seven (or 3 from CFS to 10,000). 

The Aftermath

In the following months the aftermath and scope of the destruction became clearer.  1,000 landslides marred the landscape. Water treatment facilities for the city of Asheville were completely destroyed. For those of us in town, there was no cell service for a week, for those outside of town in smaller communities, it was even longer. The power did not come back on for weeks, there was no running water for a month, no potable water for a month and a half. Every street had downed trees and powerlines.   

It took some people days to cut their way to a main road. People in remote areas waited a week or more for help. Helping each other and doing what needed to be done was everyone’s first priority. Communities banded together to help those in need  At the same time, private and federal aid came pouring in. Water trucks, linesmen, and search and rescue treams from all over the country arrived. Private helicopter owners used their machines and fuel to deliver supplies where they were needed most.   

It was a month before the first Forest Service area reopened, and once there was potable, some restaurants opened their doors again and a semblance of normality started to return. But the reminders of what had happened remained everywhere. Lifejackets hanging from a tree 20 feet over the road, cars and trucks pinned along the river bank. Debris and dust and mud everywhere you could see. Shipping containers lodged in buildings and restaurants along the river. It was clear it would be years before things returned to normal. 

The Recovery

As survival needs and priorities were being met, information on the status of our beloved forests and trails began to trickle in. Luckily the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was mostly spared, as the majority of the wind and rain were concentrated to the east and northeast of Asheville. Heavy damage was reported in the Cataloochee Valley and Big Creek Valley of the park, with total loss of all footbridges, and a seventy-foot bridge that spanned Big Creek.  Damage to facilities, campgrounds and historical structures was also reported as well as heavy damage to some roads. After four months these areas remain closed and under repair with no estimates on when they may reopen.   

The park remained open immediately after the storm and visitors have been advised to concentrate their travel plans to the Tennessee side of the park. To the east, the Pisgah Ranger district of Pisgah National Forest was also spared the worst of the damage and managed to reopen safely a month after the storm. Some severe landslides were found and thousands of trees needed to be removed, but only minor tread damage occurred to the trails in this area, including the Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wildernesses.   

Some damage to State Route 276 occurred in this area and was quickly repaired by the NCDOT. The most severe damage in this area occurred to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which suffered a full closure due to loss of roadway, landslides and trees down along the road. Many sections of the Parkway have reopened but several hundred miles remain closed, especially in the areas most hard hit northeast of Asheville. This section reported almost 40 landslides along or under the roadway. 

Within a few weeks of the reopening of the Pisgah Ranger District, volunteer groups came together in record numbers to repair damage and clear downed trees. Thousands of volunteer hours were logged by Pisgah Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA), focusing mostly on mountain bike trails, while the Pisgah Cowboys, Carolina Mountain Club and other groups worked on the rest. Dupont State Forest also held a larger number of volunteer work days and managed to reopen most trails within two months of the storm. Some severe flooding in the area kept certain trails and roads closed as they suffered heavy damage, though anyone looking to mountain bike or hike in these areas will find almost everything opened and returned to normal.   

It took almost 2 months to reopen parts of the Grandfather Ranger District of Pisgah, northeast of Asheville, including the Linville Gorge, which suffered from the worst of the wind and rain of the area. Many areas in this district remain closed including visitor centers, campgrounds, and picnic areas, as well as the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs through the area.  

At this point, most sections of the Appalachian Trail have reopened but it would be recommended to check on areas near the Tennessee border before travelling, as this region was also heavily impacted by the storm. Winter storms since the hurricane have also been a headache to reopening as weakened trees and soil have led to more downed trees. If travelling to the area, take into account that travel on Western North Carolina trails may be slowed by downed trees that have yet to be cleared. 

Moving forward

Since the storm, we are starting to see a return to normal, but many areas will take years to recover.  Many small mountain towns that service the Smokeys and the Pisgah area suffered greatly and will have to be slowly rebuilt. Towns like Marshall, Hot Springs, and Lake Lure in North Carolina, as well as Erwin Tennessee and Damascus Virginia, with proximity to large rivers, will take years to rebuild their businesses and infrastructure. 

Trout hatcheries were all but destroyed in the region and the ecological devastation to the creeks and rivers by the record floods may take a long time to fully understand. There have been reports that our protected Hellbender Salamanders may be placed under endangered species protection due to habit and population loss. Fly fishermen coming to the area may have to look far and wide for healthy fish populations as well. 

An estimated 200 billion dollars of damage was caused by the storm and the loss of revenue during our peak tourist season has been devastating to the southern Appalachian economy. At this time, there is no reason why visitors should not come to the area, and in fact we need increased tourism more than ever. Financial support for our ongoing recovery efforts has come through local nonprofits as well as federal disaster funding, but since most home and business owners in the area were under insured for flooding, it will require a lot of tourism dollars to help us return to normal.  

Appalachia is made of resilient people, and resilient land. The oldest mountains in North America have seen a flood or two and will recover. The love of this area is shared far and wide and we are confident things will turn around for us in due time. That being said, please don’t hesitate to come by and say hello! We can’t do this without you.  

Thanks y’all.