Nearly 2 years after Helene, recovery varies across western North Carolina
By Gracie Palmer
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — This month marks two years since Helene devastated western North Carolina. While communities across the mountains have made major progress, recovery does not look the same everywhere.
“Some days it feels like two weeks. Some days it feels like 20 years,” said Buncombe County Helene Recovery Officer Kevin Madsen.
Madsen said there are 114 projects across Buncombe County municipalities, along with 31 projects focused on the county’s own recovery efforts. The work includes restoring parks, working with property owners on hazard mitigation and building up supplies of generators and backup power sources.
“We’ve learned a lot from Tropical Storm Helene, how we’ve responded,” Madsen said. “And we’ve built those partnerships and those collaborations. So I feel like we are better prepared today than we were.”
But in Bat Cave, a community in Henderson County, the landscape still carries clear signs of Helene’s destruction.
Bat Cave Fire and Rescue Chief Steve Freeman said some roads and bridges remain missing or under repair. In one area, he said, residents have limited windows to travel while crews work on the road.
“The residents can only get out every 45 minutes for a 15-minute thing on the hour because they’re working on the road to get that back,” Freeman said. “They’ve been dealing with that ever since the start of this.”
Freeman said the community has made significant progress. In the first days after Helene, he said, the only way out was by helicopter. Still, he said the recovery remains vulnerable. Debris remains along creeks, and he worries another storm could threaten work already completed downstream in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock.
“We’ve come a long way with that. There are some things that could be done better,” Freeman said when asked whether western North Carolina could handle another natural disaster. “All it takes is for one hurricane to come through. Not as bad as Helene. But all the work that has been done in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock — water runs downhill.”
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