Wounds slowly heal in Western North Carolina one year after Helene

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. —  “We were underwater where we’re standing right now,” says Will Carpenter as he walks through a neighborhood hundreds of yards away from the Swannanoa River.

Thursday morning’s rain was a fitting, yet solemn reminder of what happened here in Swannanoa almost a year ago to the day.

“The amount of history we’ve that we’ve lived in 365 short days is just crazy,” says Travis Frizsell.

Carpenter and Frizsell founded the Valley Hope Foundation in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

The mission?

“We’re neighbors helping neighbors,” beams Carpenter.

And that’s exactly what they’re doing. The difference here from a year ago is night-and-day – roads and bridges are rebuilt, homes are restored, most of those still displaced are in trailers instead of tents – a lot of this thanks to organizations like Valley Hope.

But there’s still a long way to go.

“I don’t know if it’ll ever truly be done,” Carpenter smiles.

“My hope and dream is that we can restore this community to the beauty that it was before the storm.”

Locally run non-profits like VHF are critical for communities like this one long after government support dries up.

“FEMA is gone,” says Frizsell, “All the government representatives, they’re gone. But we’re still out here doing it.“

While Swannanoa has come far since September 2024, the scenes here run in stark contrast to those in neighboring Asheville, where a real sense of normalcy has returned to downtown. But, mere steps away in Biltmore Village, the all-too-familiar scars Helene left behind begin to show themselves again.

“Even the Great Flood of 1916 wasn’t anywhere near this. I mean, this was really cataclysmic,” says Joe Scully, owner and head chef of Corner Kitchen in Asheville’s Biltmore Village.

The touristy neighborhood was under nearly 10 feet of water a year ago. Many locations in the Village remain closed and boarded up today, but Corner Kitchen was able to reopen last month.

“There were about six inches of mud at the base of the stairs, all over Biltmore Village,” Scully laments.

Owner and head chef Joe Scully knew a mountain of clean-up was ahead of him. But he wasn’t alone.

“The community has been great. The Biltmore Estate, first and foremost. They just showed up.”

You might say… it takes a village.

“I think it’s important to say, ‘Please come back,'” beams Scully.

“Let’s just have fun. It’s not going to be the same, but it’s going to different. And, hopefully like Corner Kitchen, it’ll be better.”