Hurricane Helene continues to devastate NC
- Matilda Ziegler
- Oct 9
- 3 min read
Hurricane Helene plowed its way into the Appalachian Mountains on Sept. 27, 2024, leaving a path of unprecedented destruction in its wake. The worst devastation occurred in Western North Carolina.
Whole towns were destroyed, and, while there have been significant recovery efforts, especially on the part of private individuals and religious and civic organizations such as World Central Kitchen, Samaritan’s Purse and the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, residents of parts of Western North Carolina lived in post-apocalyptic conditions for months.
The 140-person village of Chimney Rock and the 1,400-person town of Lake Lure, both located in Rutherford County, were two of the hardest hit areas.
According to a statement from the town of Lake Lure entitled “Hurricane Helene-Lake Lure Questions and Answers,” the town was “utterly destroyed.”
I grew up on the outskirts of Cliffside, North Carolina, a tiny town about 35 miles away. I grew up hiking the trails near Chimney Rock, and frequently going to Lake Lure, the now-destroyed town where my parents got engaged.
After the storm, the silence from Western North Carolina was the most unnerving thing as someone who was not at home when the devastation hit. Due to a lack of cell service, I didn’t find out if my parents were alive or dead for three days, and I didn’t know if my childhood best friend was alive or dead for five. I was unable to make contact with others I knew for up to three weeks.
Private individuals, as well as the state government of North Carolina, did the best they could to help the devastated. My family now lives in Shelby, a city that is a 45-minute drive from Charlotte. Shelby was still impacted heavily by the hurricane (my parents did not have power for seven days, and multiple homes in their neighborhood were destroyed or partially destroyed by Helene), but, a few days in, it was the westernmost locality with some semblance of normalcy. People from harder-hit areas flocked to Shelby, some to reach family members they could stay with who had access to running water, and some to obtain food and gasoline, or to take out cash from their bank accounts. Traffic lights were out, and the few fast-food restaurants that reopened in the days following the hurricane were swamped with people seeking their first hot meal in days.
Churches and private individuals handed out food and water or drove truckloads of supplies into the deep mountains where the devastation was the worst. The Diocese of Charlotte, according to Catholic News Agency, raised over $3.8 million dollars in the first three weeks after Helene to aid in recovery efforts.
However, the federal government did not respond with as much care and vigor as North Carolinians. In fact, one year after the hurricane, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, according to AP News, requested more federal funding for Helene relief. While Stein expressed his gratitude for federal funding that has already been allocated to North Carolina, he said “Western North Carolina has not received anywhere near what it needs, nor our fair share.”
The first time I went back home after the hurricane, I was shocked by the level of devastation that was still prevalent three months later. The last time I went home 11 months after, I was shocked by how little had changed.
About $8.1 billion of the $13.5 billion that Stein is requesting would go to the state’s already approved disaster recovery block grant program. More than a third of the $8.1 billion dollars, according to AP, would help rebuild or replace thousands of homes and businesses that were destroyed by Helene, provide rental assistance and perform storm mitigation activities.
According to a Sept. 24 report from Stein’s office entitled “One Year After Helene: Rebuilding Critical Infrastructure,” 4% of water systems downed by Helene are not back up, I-40 is only partially reopened, and some other, smaller roads across the state are still unusable.
We lost so many places dear to us. Some of us lost our homes, and some of us lost loved ones. We should, at least, have functioning roads and clean running water in Western North Carolina over one year after Helene hit. The federal government needs to step up and provide for its suffering constituents.
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