WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2025 | A5
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HURRICANE HELENE. ONE YEAR LATER.
Recovery work continues in Watauga one year later making sure heating fuel deliveries, fire apparatus, and other aid can reach them.” Four days after Hurricane All areas still have work to Helene swept through the High be done, Holt said, in varying Country, Watauga County degrees as they work through Emergency Services Director the waterway restoration process Will Holt said they were workto help stabilize against future ing toward short-term recovery flooding, rebuild private roads because they knew it was going and bridges, and continue the to be a “years-long process.” debris management program. On Sept. 27, the second year of The county is still receiving that process will begin with work support from nonprofit partners, still to be done. including Baptists on Mission, Over the last year, Holt said the American Red Cross, Samarthe most significant challenge itan’s Purse, and other local nonin the recovery process has been profits. Holt said the Long-term the sheer scope of the disaster Recovery Group has also hired a PHOTO BY MOSS BRENNAN local disaster case manager. as impacted areas across WestThe bridge on Circle Drive West was washed out during Hurricane Helene. ern North Carolina compete for “These volunteer organizaresources that would normally be tions have filled the gap where available. progress, and some, such as priroadway repair. Many require resources were lacking or comWhile he does not have a pervate road and bridge reimbursemore than one type of repair. pletely absent,” Holt said. centage of where the county ment, are just now being impleThe private road and bridge Another concern in the recovstands in terms of recovery, Holt mented in the county. Ecoprogram has taken longer than ery process is the funding from said that from the debris removal nomically, more than $20 milinitially requested, Holt said, the federal level. Holt said that standpoint, the county has comlion has been paid to citizens for due to the nature of the quantity there are concerns with future pleted right-of-way removal and restoration. and scope of damages in WNC, preparedness grants and changwaterway removal, and is approx“Full recovery is still a years which require the program to ing guidance for programs vital imately 65% complete with the long process,” Holt said. have a large rollout. to response and recovery. private property debris removal Across Watauga County, there “Regulations surrounding who Recovery prioritization has program. have been 600 repair requests can build and what standards been driven by federal and state Overall, the county has removed for private bridges and roads, roads and bridges are rebuilt to timelines on their specific disas400,000 cubic yards of debris but approximately 200 of those cause this program to take longer ter recovery programs. from the water, 25,000 cubic requests are duplicates. Those in the start-up phase,” Holt said. “As these become available, we yards through the PPDR prosites that still require repair serve “Only permanent solutions are move our recovery in step,” Holt gram, and 165,000 cubic yards approximately 1,750 households. acceptable, and as such, those said. from the right-of-way removal Around a quarter of those sites solutions are subject to adopted Holt estimates that direct costs program. will require bridge work, while building codes, as they should be (debris and emergency response) Many programs are still in some may need culvert, pipe, or to truly assist residents in need by are approximately $9 million, MOSS BRENNAN
moss.brennan@wataugademocrat.com
HURRICANE HELENE. ONE YEAR LATER.
HURRICANE HELENE. ONE YEAR LATER.
with overall response and repair costs currently estimated to be $12 million. As they look to future storms, Holt said they have been working to diversify planning and communications, and pre-positioning additional assets to best reach varying areas of the county. “We are emphasizing the need to be flexible, leveraging our community partners and codifying relationships,” Holt said. “We are actively incorporating lessons learned from the After-Action Review into our processes.” Holt said they are also working with commercial and state public safety partners to upgrade systems as they can, “but funding remains a challenge to make that happen. Locally, satellite redundant systems have been acquired to help local partners stay connected. “This year has truly shown the grit of our community like never before,” Holt said. “There have been many bumps in the road as programs, guidance, and overall external support has changed the farther we get from Sept. 27, but the support of our key partners and local community has never wavered. Helene will be a benchmark for our community forever, and one that we continue to incorporate lessons learned for when the next major event happens.”
One year after Helene, recovery groups still working in Watauga NICK FOGLEMAN nick.fogleman@wataugademocrat.com
DATA FROM BOONE AREA CHAMBER
While sales tax remained more stable due to recovery purchases, occupancy tax shows the dramatic effect Helene had on the fall months.
Counting the cost: One year after Helene down from nearly $3.6 million in August. Jackson said recovery began to take WATAUGA — Hurricane Helene shape with the return of Appalachian struck the High Country just as busi- State University students and the nesses were preparing for a busy fall start of ski season. season. The storm’s unprecedented “You saw a lag really until mid-Nodamage to roads, homes and busivember,” he said. “Even in late Octonesses left much of the region’s econ- ber, early November, we were still omy struggling. very much an active disaster scene, “This has been an unprecedented and that didn’t really change until we event, and the sheer scope of it has got a little closer to Thanksgiving and touched every part of the region, toward the holidays.” every part of the community, every By late November, visitor traffic had part of the High Country in one way, started to return, although many areas shape or another,” said David Jackson, still resembled disaster zones well president and CEO of the Boone into the holiday season. Relief came Area Chamber of Commerce. not just from reopened attractions but The storm struck at the worst posfrom on-the-ground support. sible time: the fall tourism season. “One of the most helpful things we According to Jackson, many busihad here was the presence of FEMA nesses report that October typically and SBA staff,” Jackson said, while accounts for roughly 25% of annual also acknowledging issues with the revenue for many businesses, money federal programs. “They taught us a that sustains them through the slower language that we didn’t know… That winter months. is worth its weight in gold.” “That is hibernating money for a Despite setbacks, local business lot of businesses that maybe are not resilience defined the recovery. as reliant on foot traffic in winter,” “One of the first phone calls I got Jackson said. “They need that revethat Saturday morning when my nue from October, November to float phone started to work again was from them through the beginning of the Stick Boy,” Jackson recalled. “They year. And they didn’t have it.” said, ‘We’ve got a freezer that we’re According to the Chamber’s ecogoing to lose a whole bunch of stuff. nomic indicators report, occupancy We’re just going to start pumping tax collections fell nearly 89% year out some bread and some coffee, and over year, from $1,019,077 in Octoyou just tell people if they need bread ber 2023 to just $109,707 in Octoor coffee, come by here. We’re giving ber 2024. September’s collections also it away.’ That’s this community in a dropped sharply, from $370,606 in nutshell.” 2023 to $235,595 in 2024. By early 2025, some economic indiNet sales tax collections showed cators showed signs of recovery. some resilience, likely from recovOccupancy tax collections in January ery-related purchases, but October See COST, A6 2024 still dropped to $2.96 million, NICK FOGLEMAN
nick.fogleman@wataugademocrat.com
BOONE — A year after Hurricane Helene dropped more than 25 inches of rain across the High Country, relief groups say recovery is far from over. While downtown areas may appear normal, leaders on the ground point to families still displaced, homes that remain unsafe and costs that continue to overwhelm. In Foscoe, Army veteran Sherrye Trice began knocking on doors after the storm to check on neighbors. Her efforts soon evolved into Foscoe Home Team, a volunteer-run relief store that still serves approximately 500 people each week. “We’re serving more people now than we were right after the storm,” Trice said. The store operates on a client-choice model, allowing customers to shop for food, cleaning supplies, and household essentials. Trice said the goal is to offset everyday costs
PHOTO BY LUKE BARBER
The Stateline Resource Station has transformed into a long-term recovery program providing grants to rebuild.
so families can put money toward repairs. She described situations she has seen, including people still displaced by damage, houses inundated with mold and an increase in drug relapse. “This has exposed how financially fragile our communities already are. So many people are one paycheck away from crisis, not from concern, but crisis,” Trice said.
Foscoe Home Team is currently seeking donations, volunteers and a grant writer. More information is available at foscoehometeam.org. Other organizations are also working on rebuilding infrastructure and repairing homes damaged in the storm. Samaritan’s Purse continues its rebuild program, which See GROUPS, A7
LEFT PHOTO BY MELISSA GREAVES/RIGHT PHOTO BY MOSS BRENNAN
The left photo shows the bridge on Castle Ford Road after it was washed out right after Hurricane Helene. The right photo shows the current work being done to replace the bridge, which is expected to be completed in the spring.
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 See REPAIRS, A6