Messages of hope, love and encouragement can be found throughout downtown Asheville.
A month after Tropical Storm Helene tore through Western North Carolina, groups of costumed cyclists, friends catching up and gatherings of grief and celebration could be seen all over downtown.
Tropical Storm Helene destroyed homes, uprooted infrastructure and left at least 98 people dead, but despite the destruction and loss, residents said there has been an overwhelming sense of community connection and support.
On October 26, a Citizen Times reporter walked through downtown Asheville, talking to residents and asking them to think about what stuck with them over the past month, what worries them about the future and what brings them hope.
Asheville residents are coping with grief after Helene
Jenna Jaffe, an artist from East Asheville, spent part of the afternoon at the Surreal Sirkus Arts Festival in Pack Square Park, where people could participate in a community ritual, express their feelings at a funeral altar and celebrate local art.
She said the storm has brought layers of sadness and loss.
“I feel a lot of grief and sadness,” Jaffe said. “The loss is so enormous and devastating.”
West Asheville resident Phillip Presnell, 36, remembered biking past DayTrip, a bar that opened on Amboy Road in late August and was destroyed by the storm.
“I had no connection to this bar, but it made me very emotional and I started crying,” Presnell said. “Just like realizing that that will happen 10,000 times.”
Due to the loss of cell service and road closures, many had no idea how much was destroyed by the storm. Presnell and others said it was striking to realize that the destruction they had seen was just a fraction of the impact.
How people heard about Helene’s dramatic impact on Asheville
Simone Matthews, 34, from Leicester, said the moment she remembers most was the “shock” when the mobile service returned and she realized how bad the storm had been.
“We were locked out of there for a minute and had no idea how bad the situation actually was,” she said. “When you finally got on duty, and you were like, ‘Oh my word, I had no idea what was going on.'”
Eleanor Koch, 26, of South Asheville, said a battery-powered radio was their only connection to the rest of the world for a few days.
“I never want to live without radio again,” Koch said. “We just started walking through places and trying to figure out if there were any generators or things like that, or food and water, but the 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. transmissions kind of kept us going.”
The twice-daily storm recovery updates from Buncombe County officials were crucial for Koch.
Cade Justad, 27, said he was trapped in his Richmond Hill Park home for two days before he was able to get out.
When he finally left, he went to Craven Street Bridge and after seeing the river, he decided to leave. However, four hours later he was back home, because there was no way out.
“We just didn’t know how bad it was because we normally lose power there during a storm,” he said. “And then I saw everything underwater. And I thought, ‘Oh, that’s everywhere now.’
Survivors talk about storm experiences
Seairra Davis, 23, of Leicester, was driving to visit her grandmother in Hot Springs when the storm hit. She said parts of the road were “completely destroyed” and she watched a landslide start behind her.
“It was a stroke of luck not to be hit by the landslide and pushed off the mountain,” Davis said.
Shelby Arnett, 27, who was sitting at a table with Presnell and Justad outside the Asheville Club at Haywood Street and Battery Park, lives in Swannanoa.
Before Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel arrived to provide outside assistance, she loaded her car with supplies and started driving around to people.
She built relationships with people she visited, some multiple times. Arnett recalled one such visit.
“People just wanted to be remembered.” Arnett said. “She started crying because she was just happy to see me, knowing I had stuff for her, and also that I was coming to see her again.”
Helene leaves many in precarious financial circumstances
Davis’ grandmother, who owns a trout farm, lost 15,000 fish due to the flooding and power loss. They couldn’t get any compensation because FEMA couldn’t come and look at the conditions, Davis said.
“We had to take out all the dead fish to keep the live fish alive, to make some kind of profit,” she said.
Koch said the storm has thrown their financial situation into chaos.
Two of Koch’s roommates were planning to move, and the two new people they found decided not to come after the storm.
“That meant I was without roommates, I couldn’t afford my house, there was no electricity,” Koch said. “It’s just a really stressful time trying to figure out: Am I going to be evicted from my apartment?”
There is a long road ahead for Asheville’s recovery
Matthews is the owner of Whisp, a downtown gift shop.
“What I’m most concerned about is getting the businesses back on their feet, and the people who have lost so much,” she said. “Asheville in general, getting back together, rebuilding and moving forward, however long that’s going to take.”
The consequences of the storm for the tourism sector are a major concern for many.
Koch said they fear the lack of tourism will further strain their finances.
“This week I finally got to work,” Koch said. “I don’t know if it will be stable because it was a store that was very dependent on tourists.”
Others, like Jaffe, worry there isn’t enough funding and resources for Asheville to recover.
“I wonder how we can get rid of all those trees that are everywhere.” Jaffe said. “I don’t know if there are enough subsidies to cover the money people are losing because of this.”
‘Don’t forget us’
Justad said he worries that over time people will stop recognizing that this is a long-term crisis facing Asheville and the surrounding area.
“I’m afraid that in six months people won’t consider it an emergency anymore,” he said. “If we miss a tourist season – that’s when most people make most of their money – how do you make Asheville work?”
Laura Vickers, 59, and her husband Dan moved to Asheville two years ago to escape the West Coast wildfires. Now she says she worries that Asheville will be forgotten as the country enters a rebuilding phase.
“We are very grateful for the outside help and keep it coming,” Vickers said. “Don’t forget us. It will take a long time before the reconstruction is realized.”
Community resilience encourages hope
Seeing people come together despite their differences and building mutual aid networks has brought hope to many Asheville residents.
Matthews, the owner of Whisp, said she was inspired to see how much everyone supported each other.
“Artists setting up GoFundMes for each other, going to help each other, going to Swannanoa, everyone really coming together and helping out was pretty cool to see,” Matthews said.
Koch added that although their mother has encouraged them to move to Nashville, they are reluctant to leave.
“I want to be here, even though it would probably be the smartest decision for me financially,” they said.
“I want to be part of this community, moving forward and rebuilding.”
Isabel Funk is a guest reporter for the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. Funk assists Citizen Times journalists with reporting on the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Strong: 1 month after Tropical Storm Helene, a sense of hope
