CHIMNEY ROCK – Hundreds of people gathered outside the Lake Lure Inn & Spa on Dec. 14 as dozens of area business owners sold T-shirts and souvenirs advertising their businesses, Santa Claus posed for photos and rock music blared from speakers. In the hotel parking lot, people boarded charter buses that cruised Chimney Rock Village’s winding Main Street to see how the tourist enclave had changed since Tropical Storm Helene devastated it on September 27.
Hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops along Main Street were washed away or severely damaged when the Rocky Broad River, which runs through town, flowed through the picturesque Rutherford County village east of Asheville and Hendersonville.
“Christmas for Chimney Rock” was a one-day event where visitors could help the village support local businesses and raise awareness of recovery efforts. Access to the area has been restricted since the storm as work crews clear debris and restore infrastructure.
Dan Antkowiak, a frequent visitor to the area from Albuquerque, New Mexico, looked down on Chimney Rock’s Main Street from a parking lot next to the now-closed Burntshirt Vineyards Tasting Room & Bistro.
“There was an ice cream parlor, and then there was another place called Genny’s, a diner, and they all had seating on the creek,” Antkowiak said, pointing to a narrow strip of land between the street and the river that has now been completely cleared. “And then there was a T-shirt store, and Hickory Nut Brewing was all lined up here.”
Kim Cason, of the Esmeralda Inn in Chimney Rock, is engulfed in a hug from a friend on December 14, 2024. She was manning a fundraising table at the Chimney Rock Christmas celebration and fundraiser at the Lake Lure Inn.
“We lost 100% of our businesses,” Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary told the Hendersonville Times-News on Dec. 13 before the event. “We also currently have 100% unemployment.”
One of the two buildings that housed his own Main Street business, Bubba O’Leary’s General Store, was destroyed in the storm. He said he had to fire eleven people.
A resident who refused to evacuate, Lisa Peeler Brady, died during the storm, the village’s only fatality.
O’Leary said the town has between 125 and 140 residents year-round. He estimated that 60 local residents worked at Chimney Rock State Park, which has been closed since the storm, and another 46 are business owners.
Normally, he said, 400,000 visitors visit Chimney Rock State Park each year. On a busy Saturday, 8,000 to 10,000 tourists pass through the village, he said.
Buses ferried 50 visitors at a time through downtown Chimney Rock to accommodate the storm-ravaged city of Dec. 14, 2024. The city has been closed to visitors since the storm hit on September 27.
Plans for reconstruction
O’Leary said many businesses hope to reopen by summer 2025, but for some rebuilding could take years.
“What was about a 50-foot-wide river is now somewhere between 100 and 200 feet wide,” Village Administrator Stephen G. Duncan told the Times-News during a Dec. 13 phone call.
December 14, 2024; A bus takes visitors through storm-ravaged Chimney Rock in downtown. A Christmas celebration and fundraiser was held in front of the Lake Lure Inn, including the tour. Fifty visitors at a time were loaded onto buses that looped around the area, giving people a first look at the damage. Since the storm, the town has been closed to visitors. Credit: Stephen J Heaslip-USA TODAY
More: Despite rumors, the mayor says, Chimney Rock will rebuild after Tropical Storm Helene
He said five buildings along Main Street were washed away during the storm and another four had to be demolished afterward. He said an initial estimate for rebuilding the village’s roads, plus water and sewer infrastructure, was $75 million, but that figure could be much higher.
Jonathan Graef, 30, who was selling souvenirs outside Lake Lure Inn, said his family bought the Best View Motel in August 2023 and planned to open in January 2025 as the Best View Inn.
“We painted the exterior, all new doors, all new windows, painted the roof, all new interior, subfloors, interior walls, all new plumbing and electrical,” he said.
December 14, 2024; A long line forms outside the Lake Lure Inn for buses during the Chimney Rock Christmas celebration and fundraiser. Visitors were allowed to board buses for a short ride through the city to view the devastation of Tropical Storm Helene. Credit: Stephen J Heaslip-USA TODAY
He said the family had lost about $30,000 worth of materials and had no insurance, but a nonprofit group, Spokes of Hope, helped secure donations of lumber and flooring and provide labor to help rebuild .
Bennett Phillips, 51, also sold souvenirs outside Lake Lure Inn. He owns Hickory Nut Falls Family Campground with his wife Robin, whose family founded it in 1970. It covers 40 acres adjacent to Chimney Rock State Park.
An office, bathhouses, cabins and campsites were washed away during Helene, Phillips said. The family was unable to return to their home near the camp for three weeks after the storm and did not get power restored until Dec. 12, he said.
“Our entire operation pretty much washed down the river,” Phillips said. “It’s all in the lake now.”
O’Leary said the village has been working with several government agencies to secure funding for the rebuild, and a task force has been created to envision how the village will take shape. Many companies, he predicted, will no longer be able to rebuild where they once stood.
“The river has shown us what it is capable of. We must respect that,” he said.
Debris is piled high on the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge on December 14, 2024, which was heavily damaged by Tropical Storm Helene.
Four-year-old Paige Lee Bolinger gets Santa’s attention with a cookie during the Chimney Rock Christmas celebration and fundraiser for the storm-ravaged city on Dec. 14, 2024.
More: Chimney Rock store owner finds new location, hope through kindness, one month after Helene
More: Mayor: ‘Chimney Rock won’t be the same, but it will be better’
Deirdra Funcheon covers Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties for the Hendersonville Times-News. Do you have a tip? Email her at DFuncheon@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on the Hendersonville Times-News: Outsiders clamor to see Chimney Rock destroyed by Helene
