‘Ashe County Strong’ spirit, slogan continues as rallying call for togetherness
JESSE CAMPBELL jesse.campbell@ashepostandtimes.com
‘Ashe County Strong’ is more than a trending online slogan — it’s become a lasting symbol of community unity and perseverance.
Hashtags and profile pictures proudly displaying the slogan quickly spread online after Hurricane Helene, as the concise but powerful language is a rallying cry for residents who refused to genuflect, or bend the knee, to a destabilizing natural disaster and the conspiracy theories that come with a confusing and befuddling event.
While neighboring counties adopted similar mantras for unity and support, ‘Ashe County Strong’ is a powerful, hyperlocal message that transcends platitudes by staying true to its wording and offering help from whoever displayed the imagery to those who experienced
Hurricane Helene’s worst effects. Slogans are powerful phrases that send poignant messaging to audiences.
Ashe County sees ongoing hurricane recovery, enhances local infrastructure
JESSE CAMPBELL
jesse.campbell@ashepostandtimes.com
Although Hurricane Helene was the most powerful natural disaster to blow through Ashe County since the infamous 1940 flood, local community organizations and infrastructure departments are laying the foundations for a better recovery.
Riverview Community Center received new kitchen equipment, dining room chairs, flooring, and an overall more ergonomic layout after more than a foot of water flooded the nonprofit organization.
The Department of Transportation repaired more than 500 road sites and over 70 bridges, according to DOT transportation officials this spring. Many other roads, including the Blue Ridge Parkway, received fresh asphalt, as county and state officials worked together to overcome Mother Nature’s gauntlet of adversity.
Ashe County Schools, in working in conjunction with FEMA, is repairing baseball and softball fields, ensuring that recreation, an essential component of youth development and mental health, isn’t deprioritized in mitigating storm damage. Although the school system missed more than a month of instructional time at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, administrators and teachers said students seem more engaged and better prepared than in previous school years.
Construction crews have also resurfaced the taxi and apron at Ashe County Airport, which held more than 2,400 takeoffs and landings for weeks following the storm. Despite the tremendous amount of rain, a recurring theme this summer, school officials continue construction on the new middle school. County officials are also planning a new county animal shelter, demonstrating their dedication to a return to continued normalcy.
While county emergency management officials worked fervently with state, federal, and local organizations to repair the county’s damaged infrastructure, conservancy officials didn’t overlook Helene’s environmental destruction and degradation.
New River Conservancy’s 900 volunteers removed nearly 56,000 pounds of trash and debris during the six months after Helene. Close to 34,000 trees and shrubs were planted in the riparian areas. NRC also removed 434 tires and conducted over 100 water quality tests, said NRC officials.
Lansing, one of the county’s hardest hit communities, is once again thriving and planning an official recovery celebration event to commemorate the long and arduous road to normalcy. Although most of the town’s businesses reopened after the storm, Pie on the Mountain and Country House restaurant were among the unfortunate casualties that could not find reprieve post-recovery. A Google snapshot says the long-time pizza joint is “temporarily closed.”
County officials didn’t let Helene siphon the burgeoning energy building in the county before the storm, as agricultural officials recently celebrated the new agricultural center’s opening in July. Other county mainstays, including Christmas in July, the annual Independence Day fireworks, and West Jefferson’s Antique Fair, also returned locally.
Mt. Jefferson and New River state parks, Elk Shoals, and large sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway have also returned to operational status, faring better than outdoor recreational spots further down the Blue Ridge in the greater Asheville area.
County guides hurricane response, rebuilding efforts
Ashe County officials remain cognizant of the area’s return to normalcy and recovery as Hurricane Helene’s first anniversary nears. Ashe County Commissioners have relied on vital community updates from their respective departments, providing keen insight into the storm’s disproportionate impact across the
High Country.
While West Jefferson and Beaver Creek sustained only moderate flooding and damage, Helene reserved her most severe impunity for Lansing, Creston, and Horse Creek. The town of Lansing was inundated with more than six feet of water on NC 194, flooding several businesses, the Creeper Trail Park, and submerging dozens of homes. Several portions of Campbell Road were rendered impassable, stranding residents for days. All the while, county officials, led by Ashe County’s Emergency Management office, coordinated recovery efforts with local, federal, and state agencies.
County commissioners frequently discussed the storm’s impact during bimonthly commissioners meetings. They learned how Riverview Community Center continues to work with FEMA and how the nonprofit might have to relocate from the flood plain in the coming years.
They also relayed citizen frustration during the meeting, like how the debris cleanup along county road had caused hazardous traffic conditions on NC 88 and residential complaints concerning capricious tree cutting, alluding to prevailing citizen suspicions that out-of-state contractors were “padding their loads” for higher paydays.
While other popular advertisements, like “The Coolest Corner” and “The Lost Province,” sum up Ashe County’s geographical and environmental lure, “Ashe County Strong” engendered a different mood and local zeitgeist that prioritized humanity over selfishness.
Short, hip phrases are common in an ephemeral, overhyped social media era. They often become Facebook bios, bumper stickers, and bios for more opportunistic Etsy vendors. Although marketable slogans are common in the High Country, “Ashe County Strong” focused on the positive and celebrated the region’s intrepidness, instead of discouraging community participation, like the popular “Boone Sucks, Tell Your Friends” stickers.
While many social media users might find it easier to post cliche statements, local residents sporting ‘Ashe County Strong’ rhetoric, gear, and
memorabilia, which moved seamlessly from online to t-shirts and stickers, lived true to their words while moving offline to assist in the recovery effort. Even though negative information is common on Facebook, positivity bias can have an amplifying effect, according to a study on ucpress.edu, titled Unveiling the Positivity Bias on Social Media: A Registered Experimental Study on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
“The positivity bias on social media not only prompts users to highlight the favorable aspects of their lives but also encourages them to frame both positive and negative facets in a positive light. Several factors on social media propel this phenomenon,” the study stated.
While kind words don’t always portend altruistic actions, localized slogans can drown out the negative. Judging by the ongoing recovery efforts, the High Country remains “Ashe County Strong.”
In the wake of Hurricane Helene: A week I’ll never forget
When Hurricane Helene tore through Ashe County, it left more than just fallen trees, washed-out roads, and downed power lines—it left people stranded, scared, and unsure of where their next meal or clean bottle of water would come from. But it also brought something else: a powerful reminder of how deeply this community cares for one another.
I’ll never forget that week. My mom, Ruth, and I found ourselves right in the middle of it—boots on the ground, hearts in our hands, doing whatever we could to help. And through it all, we were proud to work hand-in-hand with the Ashe Food Pantry, which became our lifeline for food boxes, bottled water, and shelf-stable supplies. It started on Monday, Sept. 30. We coordinated with the Ashe Food Pantry early that morning to load up our car with as many boxes and water as we could fit. Our first stop was Jake Blackburn Road, where the road had completely washed out. With help from DOT workers and a makeshift culvert someone had set up, we hiked supplies in by foot—carrying food boxes, water, and basic essentials to people who had no way out and no way to get help.
Later that day, we made our way to the Bent River community. The only way across was an unstable bridge, barely holding together. I strapped on a life jacket just in case, and crossed it multiple times, my heart pounding each time I set foot on the boards. We left Ashe Food Pantry boxes and water on the far side, and made a larger dropoff under the church shelter at Greene’s Chapel—hoping word would spread and folks would know where to come.
That evening, Shelter Home Baptist Church reached out. They were preparing a hot meal for the community and needed supplies. Mom and I loaded up again and brought food boxes, shelf-stable items, and water—all from the Ashe Food Pantry—to their fellowship hall. We arrived just in time. Watching the relief on people’s faces as they shared that meal reminded me why we do this.
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, I teamed up with my co-worker, Tara Williams. We stopped by the Food Pantry again early in the morning—they were working around the clock, constantly restocking—and filled the car for deliveries to the Molley Chomper Brewery in Lansing. It had quickly become a central hub for storm relief. By the end of the day, every single box was gone.
From there, we drove over to the United Chemicon/Sprague area to visit the Dennys, who had turned their own home into a supply post for neighbors. They were handing out food boxes and bottled water to anyone in need, no questions asked. We refilled their stock from what we had left—again, thanks to the Food Pantry.
By Thursday, Oct. 3, roads were still barely passable, but we were determined to reach the Rich Hill community in Creston to check on two of mom’s elderly friends, Magdalene and Mary. The damage was worse than we’d imagined. They hadn’t seen anyone from outside their road in days. When we handed them Ashe Food Pantry boxes, they both cried. A kind soul had built a sharing box in their yard, and we filled it up before we left, knowing it would serve more than just them.
But one moment really stuck with me. On Tuesday, Oct. 8, we still had two shelf-stable boxes and some cat food left from a local church partner. We returned to a home in the Chemicon area—a woman who had refused help the week before, asking us to give it to
brought food to
in Lansing, which became a supply hub for residents in the area to get the supplies they needed.
someone who needed it more. This time, she came out onto the porch, hugged each of us, and simply said, “I love y’all. I love this whole community.” That moment—that selflessness, that gratitude—is what I’ll carry with me. We didn’t always know the names of the people we helped. Some we never saw again. But none of that mattered. What mattered was showing up. Listening. Delivering what we could. And trusting that even the smallest kindness made a difference.
None of this would have been possible without the Ashe Food Pantry, who never once said “no” when we came asking for more. Their team worked non-stop to pack boxes, gather supplies, and support local volunteers like us who were willing to go out and deliver them.
I’m proud to have stood beside my mom, Ruth, and my co-worker, Tara, during one of the hardest weeks our community has ever faced. And if sharing our story inspires even one more donation to the Ashe Food Pantry or another local relief effort, then it was all more than worth it. Please continue to give to the relief efforts by making a donation at www.AsheFoodPantry.org Because when the road washed out, we built bridges—together.
County commissioners also reminded citizens to look after one another as the second winter after Helene approaches.
PHOTO COURTESY BRE Blue Ridge Energy crews worked tirelessly to replace damaged and broken power poles as well as clear trees and debris away from the electrical infrastructure across Ashe County.
FILE PHOTO
The Riverview Community Center thrift store opened its doors on Feb. 14. Due to Hurricane Helene, the store was closed and had to be renovated.
PHOTO BY JESSE CAMPBELL
The gym oor at Riverview is awaiting a repolish before it can o cially reopen for use.
ALLISON NEAVES
PHOTO COURTESY ASHE FOOD PANTRY Volunteers with the Ashe Food Pantry spent countless hours in the days after Hurricane Helene to provide food and supplies to many in Ashe County that could not leave their homes.
PHOTO COURTESY ASHE FOOD PANTRY Volunteers
Molley Chomper
Social media helps storm recovery
JESSE CAMPBELL jesse.campbell@ashepostandtimes.com
‘Keyboard warrior’ is often a pejorative, but with scant Internet connections, homebound residents became a logistical clearinghouse, directing relief online to communities in distress after last year’s thousand-year storm.
Although conspiracy theories and misinformation about Hurricane Helene spread rapidly after the hurricane, community Facebook pages helped volunteers, who answered the call of community service by refusing to shirk the well-being of neighbors, coordinating relief efforts and donation collections locally.
While much of the county remained in the dark as Blue Ridge Electric worked tirelessly to restore electricity, residents able to secure Internet connections provided the greater community with real-time storm updates. With cell phone towers going offline after the battering winds stripped local reception towers atop ridges, volunteers took to their smart devices to quickly apprise the destruction becoming visible online, helping direct first responders and other volunteers working in storm-ravaged communities.
They typed and clicked away furiously, as they brought disparate voices and energies together for the common goal of assisting newly disadvantaged residents. Although other social media users trolled and spammed feeds with deliberate fringe theories,
Ashe County’s Facebook watchdogs relayed truth and valiant stories deserving of attention while not scrolling past their self-imposed duty of digitally maneuvering resources to displaced residents.
The Lost Province became a
prescient and connected county as Facebook accounts stayed active for days at a time, monitoring the destruction while motivating volunteers to canvas the community, door-to-door, to perform welfare checks.
Several social media pages and offshoots with concise and urgent naming, like ‘Hurricane Helene Relief,’ immediately popped up on community pages. Established social media pages, such as Ashe County in the Know and EVERYTHING Ashe County, were soon filled with posts offering help to northwest Ashe residents left stranded by the storm, although traditional word-ofmouth proved to be a powerful catalyst for recovery as the reimagined keyboard warriors gave directives to boots on the ground.
While misinformation invariably distracted from urgent recovery efforts regionwide, local Facebook users acted quickly to correct local inaccuracies, chastising those for commenting on more outlandish claims and diverting needed energy in short supply after a draining and energy-depleting natural disaster.
Social media pages also organized numerous fundraisers weeks after the storm, and posts
asking for assistance continue to pop up on the community Facebook pages.
The Ashe Post & Times continued to serve as a trustworthy source for information and recovery coordination on Facebook, while also refusing to pause operations and putting out its regular print edition, as well as a special magazine, shortly after the storm, highlighting the county’s resiliency through recovery.
Although social media is often a divisive platform during another tense election season, local residents put their differences and bickering aside to focus on storm recovery. Other outpourings of love, like “Ashe County Strong,” became mantras, profile pictures, and trending hashtags as local social media users proudly displayed their solidarity with the community while embodying the mountain tradition of always helping a neighbor in need.
Social media is also a digital archive for posterity. Local residents scrolling through their Facebook feeds, reminded by ‘memories’ alerts, can reflect on a time when Ashe County united to overcome the region’s worst natural disaster in recorded history.
A look at Hurricane Helene: Before and after
FILE PHOTO Churches, businesses, and numerous nonpro t organizations used the power of social media to let storm victims know where to get food and supplies.
FILE PHOTO Downtown Lansing during Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CALLOWAY
Downtown Lansing in a photo taken on Sept. 17.
FILE PHOTO
A photo taken just up the street from the Lansing Volunteer Fire Department on Sept. 27, 2024.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CALLOWAY
The same area near the Lansing Volunteer Fire Department on Sept. 17.
FILE PHOTO Rustic Acres as seen from NC Highway 163, taken on Sept. 27, 2024.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CALLOWAY Rustic Acres as seen from NC Highway 163 on Sept. 17.
FILE PHOTO
A photo of the Highway 163 New River Access during Hurricane Helene taken on Sept. 26, 2024.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CALLOWAY
A photo of the New River Access on Highway 163 taken on Sept. 17. The information sign that stood before Hurricane Helene’s arrival was washed away.
A year later — remembering running from one storm into another storm
TERESA ROARK-LAWS
teresa.laws@ashepostandtimes.com
Running from one storm, head-on into another storm. That’s how I can sum up Sept. 27, 2024. It was Thursday evening, Sept. 26, and there was talk everywhere about how Helene was headed straight for the mountains. My husband Gary and I were dealing with a different storm called cancer. One that has hit most everybody with a loved one sometime in their life. Gary was having surgery on Friday the day the storm was supposed to be at its worst. We made the decision to go down Thursday night and get a hotel room close to the Wake Forest Hospital so we would be down there and not miss his surgery. Friday morning came, and we headed to the hospital and got checked in. My son Alex and his wife Nikki had both taken off work on Friday to be with us. I got a call from Alex, and he said, “Mom, 16 mountain is closed and we are stuck in traffic on 421. I don’t know if we can get there. Traffic is at a standstill.” I told him that if he could go back home. 10 minutes before Gary went into surgery at 3 p.m., Alex and Nikki made it. They said they finally got the road open, but Alex, who is a lineman for SkyLine/SkyBest, said he couldn’t stay long because they would be going back to work. Later that night, we had no phone service, no way of getting in touch with our family to let them know Gary made it through surgery. On Saturday morning, still no phone service. I don’t know which is worse, being in the dark from
no power or not having phone service to get in touch with your loved ones when there is something going on. Finally, late Saturday, Alex got through to my phone.
He said, “Mom, it’s bad...it’s really bad, cars and houses are floating down the river, homes are destroyed, roads are gone... it’s so bad mom, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
I told him dad was being discharged and we were going to try and make it home. He was telling me we couldn’t get up 16 mountain, but we could come up 18 mountain, but there would be places that were only one lane. He said, “I’ve got a chainsaw mom, I will get you all home.”
What should have taken us two hours to get home took three.
I couldn’t believe the devastation we were seeing. As General Manager of the Ashe Post & Times , I remember heading into work where we worked day and night to assemble a print edition for that week. Along with what we printed for our subscribers, we printed thousands of extra copies to deliver to areas where people didn’t have access to the internet. I would go home and check on Gary and go straight back to work for days. While it was important to take care of my husband, it was also important to me to take care of our readers in the community and let them know what was going on.
I will never forget the day Helene hit the High Country, where we were running from one storm into another storm. The good news today is that a year later, Gary is cancer-free, and the High Country is building back one day at a time.
Helene’s wrath, conspiracy theories inspire my return to journalism
JESSE CAMPBELL
jesse.campbell@ashepostandtimes.com
I vaguely remember Hurricane Hugo. A recent nursing school graduate, my mom relocated the family to Winston-Salem to work at Forsyth Hospital before two natural disasters — Hugo and the spring 1989 tornado outbreak that bent mighty oak trees to the ground, bringing several centuries-old trees down off Robinhood Road.
My four-year-old self didn’t appreciate the gravity of both record-breaking storms. The lights flickered, my newborn sister cried from her crib, and I searched for my toy Gumby and Pokey action figures (I’m showing my age here) for comfort.
Helene hit differently.
Advanced forecasting gave daily updated weather warnings. We thought we knew what to expect. We were wrong.
I left my marketing job in Boone early Thursday afternoon after watching YouTube videos of flooding at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville. I grew uneasy with what I considered premature comparisons of Helene to the 1940 flood. My great aunt wrote a novella on the disastrous flood, which equated damage to the 1916 hurricanes that submerged the postbellum Asheville area. A family of three is buried together at the cemetery near Stony Fork church, where my family holds annual reunions. I always wondered about the graves with the same date of death. I later learned the family perished when a landslide collapsed their home. History is my recurring theme. I draw parallels to the past to comfort my unknown fears. These memories hung heavy with me as I grabbed my keys to head home to West Jefferson.
Rain swept across US 221 in Deep Gap. The winds picked up—a foreboding calm set in as I arrived home that evening. I heard reports of a tornado touchdown in Blowing Rock. Local weather forecasters urged residents near streams and rivers to relocate.
I eventually calmed myself that evening with a movie and popcorn — my go-to coping mechanism. I fell asleep to Unsolved Mysteries, resolved to sleep through the storm’s worst, determined not to attempt the morning commute to Boone. The power flickered at 5 a.m. as the white noise of my air conditioner fell silent, and a new, eerie prelude enveloped my home on Nettle Knob Road.
A panic attack followed at 10 a.m. My mom lives near the New River in Crumpler. She is determined and stubborn, to her detriment. I was fearful she would try to cross her low water bridge to see patients that day in her position as nurse practitioner in Jefferson. I then thought of my dad. He works in the maintenance department at the hospital, always leaving his cell phone on ring for on-call duty. My thoughts then coalesced in abject fear when I thought of my sister and nephew. They live alone in Foscoe.
My family weathered the storm well, although we didn’t escape emotional scarring. My nephew watched his grandmother’s friend die of a heart attack three days after the storm as he waited to return to his Foscoe apartment. Helene didn’t claim only one life locally. Her destruction will be felt for years to come.
I passed the storm’s worst by reading by dimmed window light until 5 p.m. when Blue Ridge Electric restored power. I was fortunate. I was lucky the storm’s worst bypassed West Jefferson.
With restored Internet access, I quickly learned that Helene had lived up to her billing. The howling winds and surging waters cut off Lansing and Creston. Unconfirmed and premature reports of rescuers finding deceased families in cars floating down the river induced with what I surmise as comorbid survivor’s guilt and an overactive amygdala, still unconvinced the worst was over as skies cleared Saturday. Fortunately, these reports were false.
Helene angered me. She terrified me. The personified storm that continues to live poignantly in our collective memories made me helpless. Helene riddled me with guilt — guilt that I couldn’t do more to help residents in need. I was powerless and rattled. I didn’t have control. No one did. She also gave me a new appreciation for cognitive dissonance and compartmentalizing memories. I empathized with the plight of others, determined to be more useful in the future. My opportunity soon came. After reading the asinine and inane conspiracy theories play out online, I committed myself to return to journalism to spread truth and dispel malicious lies.
I returned to the Ashe Post & Times to contextualize Helene’s long-term impact on the county that we will feel for years to come. We might lose loved ones and friends in the coming years, oblivious or unable to determine if their passings were due to undue stress from chronic fatigue compounded by loss of property, livelihood, and poor health outcomes engineered by Helene’s fallout. I will continue to provide insight and coverage on how Helene and climate change exacerbate our failing social safety nets and diminish our housing stock for natives, to the best of my ability. I will never shy away or stop writing stories that impact you, the readers.
Helene reduced me to helplessness, but she also helped me rediscover my voice and life’s purpose. I will never go into the storm again without my most formidable weapon — the pen.
Let’s rewrite Ashe County’s next chapter together. We can’t control the weather, but we can continue to display our enduring mountain spirit. We are and were always, ‘Ashe County Strong.’
Holding on for hope during Hurricane Helene
NATHAN HAM
nathan.ham@ashepostandtimes.com
It’s a helpless feeling knowing something is coming, but there’s nothing you can do to change it. That’s how I felt the days leading up to Hurricane Helene, and even the day the storm hit Ashe County. Many people were completely helpless. The National Weather Service had forecasted rain for days, even well before Hurricane Helene ever made landfall in Florida. A rain event would be pushing through Tennessee and North Carolina, which would make the ground even more saturated. All of this was happening while Helene was churning her way toward Florida.
I’ve seen flooding rains here before. As an Ashe County native, I remember seeing the New River out of its banks on Highway 163, Highway 221 at the Twin Bridges, and other areas throughout the county. Just a few years ago, Tropical Storm Florence left some areas of Ashe County dealing with high water and flooded bridges and roads. Absolutely none of that would have prepared us for what would happen last September. As I sat in my house in the Buffalo community with my fiancée, Marlee, the rain had just kept falling for days. That Friday morning, the winds started to pick up and the rain turned into a soaking,
constant downpour. There is a creek that runs along the edge of our front yard. Years ago, the creek got out of its banks, a long time before I was born (I turned 38 years old this year), back when my grandparents lived in this house. My grandfather decided to dig out rocks and make the creek bed deeper and much farther below the bridge that connected the driveway to the road. Since then, despite all the heavy rains I had seen over the years, the water never got close to crossing the bridge or flowing into the yard. That all changed on that
Friday. The runoff from neighboring hillsides poured down to the creek as it neared its confluence with Buffalo Creek. The creek began eating away at the bank and the edge of my yard. Just to make things a little more scary, the power went off, and all we could hear in the house was the raging water, tree limbs snapping, and entire trees falling on the hillside. As the minutes ticked by, it felt like hours. We wondered if the rain would ever stop. We wondered what would happen if the creek rose over the edge of the yard and the bridge. The house is at a slight decline from the creek bank, so the fear was there that the water would start pouring toward our front door.
There are three different roads that would eventually lead us to West Jefferson, where I could get to my father’s house. We would learn later on that he only lost power for a couple of hours that day, and we would have been safe and sound there. With what little cell phone signal I had, I had sent a text to my dad to let him know we were going to try to leave. The water rose quickly, so we decided the best thing to do would be to try and get out
if we could. However, there was a tree down, and Buffalo Road was already underwater near Buffalo Baptist Church. We tried taking Buck Mountain Road, but a large tree had already fallen across that road as well, and part of the road closer to town had washed out completely across both lanes.
The final option, Bald Mountain Road, also had a creek that had completely eaten away the dirt road and left a large gap in the road that was getting worse by the second.
After those three failed attempts at leaving, we returned to our house and
prayed. Water was ponding in the yard just from the rainfall itself. Neither of us had cell phone signal at this point. I could not get through to my dad to let him know we went back home. We were simply praying and thinking about how to get to higher ground. Around 12:30 p.m., as if the good Lord knew just how much water the creek banks could hold before crashing down into our front door, the rain began to slow down and eventually stopped. The sun came out. The water began to recede. We had made it through without water getting into our house or crawl space. The creek bank looked awful, and still does, but thankfully, the road was not completely washed away on Buffalo, and we were able to make it to town and to my dad’s house in Beaver Creek to let him know we were alive. We were without electricity for seven days, and we lost a refrigerator full of food, but it could have been so much worse. For a lot of people, they lost homes, they lost cars, and one person even lost their life. While it’s something I hope to never see happen here again, I am proud of the people of Ashe County who pulled together in an incredibly difficult time to be there for others, whether they were friends or complete strangers. The community rallied together, and it will never be forgotten.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Teresa and Gary Laws
PHOTO BY JESSE CAMPBELL
My cat, Minka, is watching Helene’s unrelenting rains.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CALLOWAY
tree was down across the road near the intersection of Buck Mountain Road and Bu alo Road near Bu alo Baptist Church.
Creek.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CALLOWAY
Water had receded just enough for my trusty Jeep to make it through the mud and rock-covered road from Bu alo to NC Highway 88.
Road and bridge repairs continue one year after Hurricane Helene
ZACH COLBURN
zach.colburn@wataugademocrat.com
Many roads and bridges in the High Country were severely damaged or destroyed when Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina. The storm damaged nearly 9,400 sites, resulting in the closure of 1,400 state-maintained roads and damaged 818 state-maintained bridges.
Even a year later, several primary and secondary roads are still not fully operational across Western North Carolina despite substantial progress made, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
The trio of Watauga, Ashe and Avery counties are a part of Division 11, which also includes Alleghany, Caldwell, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties.
“Responding to Hurricane Helene has been our top priority since it ripped through Western North Carolina last year,” the NCDOT said in a statement to the Watauga Democrat “From day one, our crews put aside their own problems to reconnect communities and restore access to local economies as quickly as possible.”
According to data from the NCDOT, a total of 318 road closures were initially reported across Division 11 following the hurricane. Of those closures, all but six have reopened, and the remaining closures — which have detours — are due to washed out bridges. Those six are:
Dale Adams Road due to bridge #940095 being washed out (Watauga)
Circle Drive West due to bridge #940280 being washed out (Watauga)
Hopewell Church Road due to damage to bridge #940187 (Watauga)
Castle Ford Road near the intersection of River Road due to bridge #940089 being washed out (Watauga)
Big Windfall Road at mile marker 0.2 due to slope failure worsening (Ashe)
Willie Brown Road just east of the Smithey Road intersection due to bridge #040121 being washed out (Ashe)
Thirty-nine bridges were destroyed by Helene in Division 11, but as of Sept. 19, 15 have been replaced, and construction and design work continue on the remaining bridges. The NCDOT was awarded an emergency express design-build
contract to Blythe Development LLC earlier this year to replace box culverts on N.C. 105 and N.C. 184. They expect construction to begin on the N.C. 105 culvert this fall, while construction on the N.C. 184 culvert should begin next year.
“A year after the storm, we remain inspired by the strength of the community to withstand and overcome Helene,” the NCDOT said in a statement. “Our response to this storm could not have been this successful without support from our families, neighbors, contractors, state and federal partners, other NCDOT divisions and even other states.”
Other ongoing projects include efforts to replace a bridge over the South Fork New River on Castle Ford Road near River Road. That construction is expected to be finished in the spring. Smith-Rowe, LLC, of Mount Airy, was awarded the $2.4 million contract to replace the bridge.
The NCDOT also stated that planning is underway to replace the bridge on Avery High School Road in Newland next summer to minimize impacts to local school traffic.
Temporary repairs were finished shortly after the storm to restore the connection between N.C. 181 and N.C. 194.
“The repairs and replacements on those roads will improve their resilience to future flood events,” said the NCDOT. “Helene helped us modernize our response to disasters. We learned how to overcome extended power outages, communication challenges and scarce resources. We’ve embraced new technology to prepare, plan and respond to disaster when they strike.
“We are all neighbors helping neighbors. Our work will continue until every state-maintained road and bridge Helene damaged has reopened.”
To view all of the current and previous road closures due to Hurricane Helene, visit tinyurl.com/7xtmjv3u.
One year of lessons: Blue Ridge Energy reflects on Helene’s impact to the power grid
MOSS BRENNAN
moss.brennan@wataugademocrat.com
When Hurricane Helene ripped through Western North Carolina, it caused unprecedented damage to the power grid. In Blue Ridge Energy’s region, approximately 63,000 customers were left without power as powerful winds and rushing water uprooted trees and tore down power poles.
It took more than two weeks — and more than 500 people from across the state and eastern United States — to fully restore power to every customer.
A year and $28 million in recovery costs later, the utility is still dealing with some impacts from Helene as compromised tree root systems threaten power lines across the mountainous region, requiring an expanded effort to identify and remove “leaners and hangers” before they cause new outages.
“As a utility, we continuously perform maintenance to ensure the integrity of the system and reliability for our members,” BRE Director of Public Relations Renee Walker said. “Whether that’s during the regular patrolling of our system or implementing work according to our short- and long-term engineering plans, we continuously work on reliability.”
Overall, the storm-related recovery cost for BRE was around $28 million. The cooperative initiated the FEMA reimbursement process early and has already received part of the reimbursement; they are now coordinating with FEMA to secure the remaining amount.
Over the last year, the most significant impact on the BRE’s system and reliability has been the effect Helene had on the root systems of trees.
“The impact has become more apparent over time, especially with each storm or high wind event,” Walker said. “Often, a tree can appear healthy, but the root system you don’t see has been severely compromised, and the tree will eventually fall in many cases. We have a very dedicated right-of-way effort and have stepped up this program to help address this issue.” BRE patrols — by foot and by air — the more than 8,000 miles of power lines to identify trees and limbs that are threatening power lines and reliability to help reduce outages.
“Our line technicians have worked a lot of overtime the past year to restore power in addressing tree-related outages,” Walker said. They have specifically stepped up right-of-way efforts in Ashe and Watauga counties, which is where some of the most widespread damage occurred in the mountain service area.
One thing Helene confirmed was the value of BRE’s existing infrastructure investments. The electric grid was — and still is — strong, and the “redundancies” or backup power feeds that were already in place helped minimize some outages during the storm. Now, Walker said they are evaluating where they can add even more.
“We have access points to our system, which are extremely critical at any time but especially during an outage, so we are evaluating where we can add even more access points to our power poles and lines that could help during outages,” Walker said.
While BRE regularly plans and prepares for storms, each one provides an opportunity to test and practice its emergency response plan. However, those plans are not always tested by a catastrophic storm like Helene.
“Our belief that we have a solid Emergency Response Plan and the electric cooperative network of mutual aid assistance in our state and nation was reinforced. We also have a strong plan that worked with our right-of-way contractors (who
helped with trees), line crew contractors, and road and grading contractors who were critical during this storm,” Walker said. “Each and every employee played a role in recovery, and their dedication to the members and communities was truly heroic! During this storm, cellular and internet service was sparse at best. We had the opportunity to test our communication equipment that was not reliant upon that and fine-tune how we continue operating effectively when these services are down in a catastrophic situation.”
Since the storm, BRE has added more all-terrain vehicles to help workers get into some of the most difficult-to-reach areas in the very mountainous, rugged terrain. BRE has also intentionally ramped up its drone program, which they can use for damage assessment efforts to expedite power restoration.
“We cannot emphasize enough the appreciation we have for each and every employee—it was a full team effort and everyone played a role in the recovery from Helene. We also greatly appreciate our communities, who were supportive in so many ways throughout the storm,” Walker said. “We’re especially thankful for the safe work of our line technicians and visiting crews. They worked safely with no accidents in some of the most dangerous conditions imaginable. Our Blue Ridge crews have continued to work many hours on weekends and overtime to restore power caused by damage to trees that revealed itself over the weeks and months following Helene.”
Churches, volunteers, and nonprofits answer Helene recovery call
JESSE CAMPBELL
jesse.campbell@ashepostandtimes.com
While Hurricane Helene brought local life to a near standstill, several nonprofit organizations and churches answered the call of service above self in spearheading a continuing recovery effort that brought attention to the county’s underserved population and how to reduce longterm suffering for harder hit areas.
Riverview Community Center began serving mobile meals again, with the help of Family Central volunteers and Second Harvest, within 10 days of the storm, said Ashe Outreach Ministries Executive Director Dave Ahrens. World Kitchen, which serves fresh food to disaster-stricken communities, also provided welcome relief after the storm. AppHealthCare did its part by refurbishing the community center with new chairs in the dining hall, saying the nonprofit served a mental health component to the Creston watering hole that fills bellies and spirits with home-cooked food and needed camaraderie.
Lansing’s Bridges to Recovery immediately answered Ashe County’s infrastructural needs by repairing private residential bridges, culverts, and driveways that were destroyed during Hurricane Helene, according to the agency’s website.
Generations Ashe has maintained its mission to provide medical and food assistance to elderly and disabled residents, despite facing staffing and funding challenges. The agency has also relied heavily on travel nurses to support its care, which is more critical than ever locally following the storm.
Although ‘answering the tones’ is a consistent, collective creed to local volunteer firefighters and medics, who spring to action whenever an emergency comes across the scanner, the county’s volunteer firefighters pulled seemingly never-ending shifts in the days and weeks following the storm.
FEMA and the National Guard also arrived to assist the county’s recovery efforts. The federal agency tasked with emergency response provided temporary shelters, food and water distribution, home repair funding, and a hand-up for ongoing storm debris removal, as well as bridge repair.
Although some local churches indefinitely paused services to assess sanctuary hall storm damage, including Calvary Methodist Church in Fleetwood and Union Baptist in Lansing, congregations countywide manifest the Samaritan’s parable by helping out distraught neighbors.
“In this tight-knit Appalachian Community, the storm’s wrath seemed almost insurmountable. But in the wake of disaster, the true strength of Ashe County began to shine,” the Ashe Baptist Association posted on Facebook. “Local churches, neighbors, and volunteers from across the region and beyond poured in to help. From the very first day, churches across Ashe County mobilized in a way that transcended any traditional Sunday service.”
Several local churches set up food kitchens for those who “had lost everything or who were simply waiting for the floodwaters to recede from their homes,” said the ABA.
One local pastor remarked on the spontaneous hospitality phenomenon of local congregations by stating churchgoers had moved “out of their seats and into the streets.”
“Baptist Men and other mud out teams quickly sprang into action. With homes filled with muck and debris, volunteers often organized by church groups, grabbed shovels, donned rubber boots, and helped families begin the arduous task of cleaning out their homes,” said the ABA.
“For many, it was not just a physical effort but an emotional one. One resident, whose home was severely damaged, expressed deep gratitude, saying, “I don’t know what we would’ve done without these people showing up. They don’t even know us, but they’re here. It gives me hope.”
Heart of the High Country proceeds still making an impact one year later
STAFF REPORT editor@ashepostandtimes.com
A year ago, Mountain Times Publications’ three leading newspapers were covering the devastation that Hurricane Helene brought to Western North Carolina. When recovery efforts were well underway and the immediate needs were being addressed, staff began to brainstorm ways to not only tell the many stories of the community pulling together and helping one another, but also how to give back to help with relief efforts. That became Heart of the High Country. Released at the end of December, the 120-page magazine shared more than 50 stories of firsthand accounts of recovery efforts, acts of kindness and community strength in the aftermath of the storm. A portion of advertising proceeds and 100% of its sales were earmarked to support relief and community organizations.
So far, donations have been made to W.A.M.Y Community Action, Feeding Avery Families, and — most recently — Samaritan’s Purse.
“We are proud that we can continue to donate to Hurricane Helene relief efforts in our community,” said Mountain Times Publications Executive Editor Moss Brennan. “Every dollar we have donated so far is going back to the communities we cover as they continue to work to help people recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, even a year later.” More donations will be announced in the coming weeks for continued relief efforts.
To pick up a physical copy of the magazine, visit the Watauga Democrat (584 State Farm Rd., Boone), the Avery Journal Times (428 Pineola Street, Newland) or the Ashe Post and Times (7 East Main St, West Jefferson).
To view the magazine online, visit tinyurl. com/3y2c5wav.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Hundreds of volunteers answered the call of service after Hurricane Helene.
FILE PHOTO
This road in the Helton community saw one lane completely washed out during the storm.
FILE PHOTO Roarking Fork Road in Creston had both lanes destroyed.
This was what the Blue Ridge Energy power outage map looked like on Sept. 27, 2024, after Hurricane Helene tore through Ashe County and the High Country.
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