AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Swannanoa on March 26, six months after Hurricane Helene, checking in on the progress that's been made and the catastrophe that remains.
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00:00Hundreds of tons of debris from Helene are still being cleaned six months after Helene brought
00:05catastrophic flooding to the mountains of North Carolina. You can see the mountains of trees and
00:10smashed police cars near Lake Lure. Acura's Bill Waddell covered the devastating impacts
00:16from Helene and he's back in Swannanoa this morning. Bill, there's still a lot of need in
00:20these communities. Absolutely, Ariella, Bernie, good morning to you. Officials tell us yes,
00:27of course, looking around there is still a lot of work and recovery that needs to be done but
00:32a lot of officials and many of the locals we've been talking to tell us that they are really proud
00:37of the progress that they have been able to make so far but it has been tough here for the past
00:41six months in Swannanoa. Housing is a big challenge. You can see behind me in some of
00:47these spots there used to be homes. Right now there are just campers and trailers, even some
00:51tents where families are staying where houses used to be or their homes are simply not livable
00:57at this point and take a look here along the banks of the Swannanoa River. I mean there are scars
01:02and memories of this storm all throughout. That's a frame of a vehicle. You can see huge chunks
01:08of concrete and roadway, even pieces of bridges that washed away. It's tough to see across the
01:14river with the angle of the sun right now but along the main stretch of Swannanoa there are
01:19still businesses that are crumbling. You can see the walls are still giving way. Now the economic
01:24toll from last year's hurricane season here in the United States was just absolutely staggering.
01:29AccuWeather experts estimate that when you look at the six storms that directly impacted the U.S.
01:35last year, the estimated total damage and economic loss combined hit more than 500 billion dollars
01:44and of course Hurricane Helene at the top of that list. Not just for the impacts here in western
01:49North Carolina but throughout the southern Appalachians and of course where the storm made
01:53landfall in Florida. Now we were over in Lake Lure where families are thanking the officials,
01:59volunteers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for continuing the massive cleanup efforts.
02:07It was just nothing but a pile of debris where the lake is. It was nothing but debris
02:12and it's incredible the amount of progress that they've made in such a short period of time and
02:16it has everything to do with the people of North Carolina just sticking together and helping one
02:22another. Ashley Roberts has been visiting Lake Lure since she was a kid and says it is tough
02:29to see everything that was washed away by the catastrophic and powerful floodwaters
02:34that rushed down these steep mountainsides. Small business owners are scrambling to do as much as
02:40they can to try and reopen for spring and summer. Of course many of them are urging families
02:45to come back, come visit vacation here and support local businesses in western North Carolina. Not
02:52just so that they can bounce back but so they can bring more local jobs back as well. The need
02:59the people that have come from all over through Samaritan's Purse and through other relief
03:03organizations they have really helped out the community and I have just been in awe of how
03:13generous people have been through all of this. There's some places that are not coming back
03:18and some people that are not coming back but that's just part of
03:22the new normal you know. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
03:28Pastor Michael Long is working with Mercy Chefs to hand out free meals every Monday evening at
03:34Grovestone Baptist Church in Black Mountain just to show you the need that they're still handing
03:38out free meals six months later. Despite the ongoing cleanup and the progress there are scars
03:43from Haleen around nearly every turn. Roads are still having some issues in the hilly spots.
03:49They've been washed out from erosion and flooding. Some are still blocked. There are temporary
03:54bridges up and we've seen debris still scattered in creeks and riverbeds and of course abandoned
04:00homes left behind that are still surrounded by feet of mud and rocks. Now officials are telling
04:06us that they have been able to secure millions of dollars to help these families and small
04:10businesses recover but they know there is still a lot of work to do. So officials that we've talked
04:16with that you'll be hearing later from tell us they are still fighting to get more funding,
04:19more resources and more help here into western North Carolina and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
04:24says the cleanup and recovery efforts on their end that's going to continue well into the summer
04:30and fall months. You know Bill and the economic impact that we issued was part of that was the
04:36fact that we were concerned that the economic impact, the loss of business would continue
04:43well past when the storm left and unfortunately you're saying that is still a huge problem.
04:50Absolutely. Of course this region thrives on tourism. Think about Asheville and the
04:54mountains of western North Carolina. They're known for their breweries, for their music,
04:58for the local artists and the vendors. That's what they depend on and people tell us that just
05:03like Black Friday, the fall foliage season for many of these local businesses that was their
05:08Black Friday. They would finally get into the black and start to really make their profit
05:12when the fall foliage crowds come out. Of course Helene took a tremendous toll and stressed a lot
05:17of the trees. Fall foliage in a lot of spots was a big disappointment last year just because of
05:22the damage and some people still don't know what this year's fall foliage season is going to look
05:26like, how the leaves are going to turn out. So again that's why they're urging people in spots
05:30that are open, do your homework before you come out, check on social media and reach out to these
05:34businesses but the ones that are open, they want people to come support them this spring and this
05:39summer because they're not sure how their fall foliage season is going to end up this year and
05:43that's where they make a lot of their tourism money to support these families and businesses
05:47and jobs. At Gillersville, Adele reporting live for us in Swannanoa, North Carolina six months
05:53after Hurricane Helene. Thank you Bill and it's such a unique place with such great spirits and we
05:57hope people will consider it for their summer vacations. Our coverage marking six months since
06:01Hurricane Helene does continue throughout the day with reports from North Carolina and Florida.