Still a long way to go toward recovery in western North Carolina months after Helene

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Swannanoa on March 26, six months after Hurricane Helene, checking in on the progress that's been made and the catastrophe that remains.

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00:00Hundreds of tons of debris from Helene are still being cleaned six months after Helene brought

00:05catastrophic flooding to the mountains of North Carolina. You can see the mountains of trees and

00:10smashed police cars near Lake Lure. Acura's Bill Waddell covered the devastating impacts

00:16from Helene and he's back in Swannanoa this morning. Bill, there's still a lot of need in

00:20these communities. Absolutely, Ariella, Bernie, good morning to you. Officials tell us yes,

00:27of course, looking around there is still a lot of work and recovery that needs to be done but

00:32a lot of officials and many of the locals we've been talking to tell us that they are really proud

00:37of the progress that they have been able to make so far but it has been tough here for the past

00:41six months in Swannanoa. Housing is a big challenge. You can see behind me in some of

00:47these spots there used to be homes. Right now there are just campers and trailers, even some

00:51tents where families are staying where houses used to be or their homes are simply not livable

00:57at this point and take a look here along the banks of the Swannanoa River. I mean there are scars

01:02and memories of this storm all throughout. That's a frame of a vehicle. You can see huge chunks

01:08of concrete and roadway, even pieces of bridges that washed away. It's tough to see across the

01:14river with the angle of the sun right now but along the main stretch of Swannanoa there are

01:19still businesses that are crumbling. You can see the walls are still giving way. Now the economic

01:24toll from last year's hurricane season here in the United States was just absolutely staggering.

01:29AccuWeather experts estimate that when you look at the six storms that directly impacted the U.S.

01:35last year, the estimated total damage and economic loss combined hit more than 500 billion dollars

01:44and of course Hurricane Helene at the top of that list. Not just for the impacts here in western

01:49North Carolina but throughout the southern Appalachians and of course where the storm made

01:53landfall in Florida. Now we were over in Lake Lure where families are thanking the officials,

01:59volunteers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for continuing the massive cleanup efforts.

02:07It was just nothing but a pile of debris where the lake is. It was nothing but debris

02:12and it's incredible the amount of progress that they've made in such a short period of time and

02:16it has everything to do with the people of North Carolina just sticking together and helping one

02:22another. Ashley Roberts has been visiting Lake Lure since she was a kid and says it is tough

02:29to see everything that was washed away by the catastrophic and powerful floodwaters

02:34that rushed down these steep mountainsides. Small business owners are scrambling to do as much as

02:40they can to try and reopen for spring and summer. Of course many of them are urging families

02:45to come back, come visit vacation here and support local businesses in western North Carolina. Not

02:52just so that they can bounce back but so they can bring more local jobs back as well. The need

02:59the people that have come from all over through Samaritan's Purse and through other relief

03:03organizations they have really helped out the community and I have just been in awe of how

03:13generous people have been through all of this. There's some places that are not coming back

03:18and some people that are not coming back but that's just part of

03:22the new normal you know. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

03:28Pastor Michael Long is working with Mercy Chefs to hand out free meals every Monday evening at

03:34Grovestone Baptist Church in Black Mountain just to show you the need that they're still handing

03:38out free meals six months later. Despite the ongoing cleanup and the progress there are scars

03:43from Haleen around nearly every turn. Roads are still having some issues in the hilly spots.

03:49They've been washed out from erosion and flooding. Some are still blocked. There are temporary

03:54bridges up and we've seen debris still scattered in creeks and riverbeds and of course abandoned

04:00homes left behind that are still surrounded by feet of mud and rocks. Now officials are telling

04:06us that they have been able to secure millions of dollars to help these families and small

04:10businesses recover but they know there is still a lot of work to do. So officials that we've talked

04:16with that you'll be hearing later from tell us they are still fighting to get more funding,

04:19more resources and more help here into western North Carolina and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

04:24says the cleanup and recovery efforts on their end that's going to continue well into the summer

04:30and fall months. You know Bill and the economic impact that we issued was part of that was the

04:36fact that we were concerned that the economic impact, the loss of business would continue

04:43well past when the storm left and unfortunately you're saying that is still a huge problem.

04:50Absolutely. Of course this region thrives on tourism. Think about Asheville and the

04:54mountains of western North Carolina. They're known for their breweries, for their music,

04:58for the local artists and the vendors. That's what they depend on and people tell us that just

05:03like Black Friday, the fall foliage season for many of these local businesses that was their

05:08Black Friday. They would finally get into the black and start to really make their profit

05:12when the fall foliage crowds come out. Of course Helene took a tremendous toll and stressed a lot

05:17of the trees. Fall foliage in a lot of spots was a big disappointment last year just because of

05:22the damage and some people still don't know what this year's fall foliage season is going to look

05:26like, how the leaves are going to turn out. So again that's why they're urging people in spots

05:30that are open, do your homework before you come out, check on social media and reach out to these

05:34businesses but the ones that are open, they want people to come support them this spring and this

05:39summer because they're not sure how their fall foliage season is going to end up this year and

05:43that's where they make a lot of their tourism money to support these families and businesses

05:47and jobs. At Gillersville, Adele reporting live for us in Swannanoa, North Carolina six months

05:53after Hurricane Helene. Thank you Bill and it's such a unique place with such great spirits and we

05:57hope people will consider it for their summer vacations. Our coverage marking six months since

06:01Hurricane Helene does continue throughout the day with reports from North Carolina and Florida.

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