Western North Carolina needs tourists to recover

AccuWeather

Recovery is far from over in parts of North Carolina, a year after the devastation from Hurricane Helene.

Transcript

00:00It's been six long months since Helene brought catastrophic flooding to the mountain town of Marshall, North Carolina

00:06more than 12 feet of water swept through the heart of the town destroying homes ripping apart businesses and sweeping away cars and

00:14even 20 and even trains

00:16Accuweather's Bill Waddell covered the devastation in Marshall after experiencing hurricane Helene

00:22Making landfall in the Big Bend of Florida bill. You're back in Western, North Carolina this morning and the road to recovery. It's far from over

00:31Yeah, that's right Ariella Bernie good morning to you

00:33We are in Swannanoa at this hour

00:35And some people have told us that they have been frustrated by the speed that has been taking for this recovery process

00:41But many others that we've spoken with here

00:43Tell us they're proud of all the work that's been accomplished in the past six months to try and help a lot of families and small

00:49Businesses start to get back on their feet, but looking around Swannanoa

00:53There's still a lot of scars and painful memories left behind. This is just one of the businesses along the main road

00:58You can see holes in the wall and there's still a car buried in feet of mud and rocks

01:04This shows you the power and the force of the water from the Swannanoa River coming down

01:09You can see there's not much water in the river at all right now

01:13Homes that were on this riverbank

01:14They're gone right now

01:16Some of these families are still living in campers by the side of the river now the 2024 Atlantic hurricane

01:23Season took a tremendous financial toll across the United States

01:28Accuweather experts estimate that the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Helene along its entire path

01:34from Florida through the Carolinas and beyond

01:38Accuweather estimates that the total damage and economic loss was

01:41225 to 250 billion dollars. We're talking about tremendous impacts in a very tough recovery now the five named

01:50Tropical storms hurricanes and the unnamed subtropical storm in the Carolinas last year combined when you add all the numbers together

01:57Accuweather estimates the total damage and economic loss was

02:01500 billion dollars some locals tell us they are working hard to reopen businesses

02:06But they need tourists to come back to Western, North Carolina this year to support them

02:13There's probably not as much business as you're used to but there are businesses

02:17And we do need support from people there. We are very sensitive to disaster tourism

02:22Don't come just to look around come here and buy lunch come here and do something to support folks almost any business have lost

02:30The most profitable quarter of the year that they would have had leave season is when people get into the black and make money

02:40Brandon Johnson is the executive director of the Madison County Arts Council

02:44He brought us inside their original home you could see the waterline and the mud line

02:50Left behind it's above our heads now

02:52They have new art going up on the walls

02:54But they're still facing a very long cleanup and recovery inside that building their temporary home is just a few doors down the block

03:01Filled with art that takes a look back at the historic flood and the horrific impacts and loss here

03:08Locals say they are grateful for volunteers and donations that have been pouring in from across the country to help Western, North Carolina

03:17Best thing I ever seen come out of this the people coming together. They've come from everywhere

03:23What can I do won't the hail?

03:26That is wonder when we go get a little we can do a little and it takes a little time

03:32It's almost like a different place

03:37This is what Marshall looked like when we first got there after covering Helene's landfall in the Big Bend of Florida

03:43of course

03:44this was after the floodwaters from the French Broad River had

03:48receded from Marshall a few of the businesses in the heart of town have

03:51Reopened or they have a temporary set up nearby but other buildings and homes and apartments there look like they have barely been touched

03:59Again, the recovery process is going to be a long and difficult one

04:02Some of the reasons why you're seeing some damage left behind in spots like this

04:06We're being told there are insurance battles that are dragging out and of course, it's gonna be a very long tough recovery

04:12This is very difficult and heavy mud and rocks to get out of here

04:16And of course, they're trying to be mindful of recovery carefully getting that out of the riverbed as well

04:21Bernie and Ariella officials tell us of course, Western, North Carolina is a friendly place with the families here

04:27They are known for their breweries in this region the outdoor activities

04:30Of course a lot of artists and makers and they really need people support

04:35so they say do your homework when you're planning your spring or summer vacations with your family a lot of these communities and businesses they

04:41Are trying to reopen get back in business because they need support this summer

04:46Especially since they're not quite sure how the fall foliage season is going to turn out with all of the stress and damage to the trees

04:53and bill a

04:54couple of other things here certainly the

04:56Wintertime a little rough for the area with many people still not back in their homes

05:00And then of course the fire danger that we've seen

05:05So far this year because it's been a little warmer during the spring

05:08The wind has kicked up and all of that brush on the ground or fuels for fires

05:14As there been any conversation of what has been going on with those two phenomenons?

05:21Yeah, absolutely Bernie we'll start with the fires of course a lot of dry brush here this part of Western to North Carolina's an abnormal

05:29Drought of normal dryness or drought conditions. We had some video playing on AccuWeather earlier

05:34We saw a contractor accidentally

05:36Towing a tie down from his trailer the metal buckle was bouncing on the road and we flagged him down

05:40Somebody else did as well trying to prevent any sparks. Thankfully no issues

05:43But that's the thing when you have so many contractors working doing that construction in these areas potential sparks

05:49It's something to be mindful and we know not too far from here. I believe within the two hours drive

05:53There are some fires where people are being told to evacuate and quickly Bernie and Ariella

05:57I just want to show you over here when you talk about the winter

06:00This is the setup that some of the people lived with here on the riverbank

06:04Some people stayed out here in campers throughout the winter. We've been told

06:09That at some places some of the families stayed in tents at some point

06:14So we know there's been a lot of support a lot of different organizations trying to help these families

06:19But we know the the early part of the winter

06:21It was tough for some of those organizations to reach everyone and of course very difficult to stay warm

06:27Stay safe with temporary heating and water lines freezing, but leaders tell us they're gonna be doing as much work as possible this summer

06:33They don't want to repeat a fat again this one

06:35So we appreciate your updates. They're live from Swannanoa, North Carolina and our coverage marking six months

06:40It's hurricane Helene continues here on AccuWeather and even over on AccuWeather.com

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