Hurricane Helene: Chimey Rock expected to reopen within a month

Nine months after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeast, the recovery process is just beginning. As communities rebuild their lives and towns, the Carolina Journal revisits some of the state’s hardest-hit areas to assess what recovery looks like, what’s still missing, and how far there is to go.

While one of the smaller towns outside Asheville that was hardest hit, Chimney Rock, has made significant progress since Hurricane Helene. Town officials told the Carolina Journal they are about a month away from opening multiple downtown businesses. 

Chimney Rock State Park reopened on June 27. During the reopening ceremony, Gov. Josh Stein signed the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025-Part II, which allocates $700 million for Hurricane Helene relief. 

The DamAge

“We lost everything, we couldn’t even communicate with the outside world, and it took a day or two to even get into the village after the storm,” Stephen, Duncan, village administrator for Chimney Rock Village, told the Carolina Journal. 

Duncan described the hurricane as it forged a destructive path through Chimney Rock, taking out massive trees and sometimes whole buildings. The hurricane built up a wall of water and debris, taking out multiple bridges. 

“It was just like a bulldozer,” said Duncan. “It was just pushing dirt and trees, and in many cases, it undermined the sides of the bank.  “The houses never got hit with water; it undermined the riverbanks to such an extent that they fell and dropped into the water.” 

He explained what it was like driving through the town for the first time with Mayor Peter O’Leary. “We literally cried,” said Duncan. In some cases, entire parts of the town were wiped out. 

Before the Hurricane, the ad valorem tax base was $93 million and dropped to $69 million, so the town lost about 25% of its entire value, according to Duncan. The town lost all of its businesses (about 50). “We probably don’t even have 50 people living here yet,” said Duncan. 

The ProGress

Progress includes a 15,000-gallon-per-day temporary wastewater package plant. Duncan predicts that the town will use this temporary sewer system for about two years, giving time to rebuild all of the systems. 

As rebuilding efforts began, a task force began working with various planning consulting groups. Due to the damage caused by the hurricane, some businesses may have to relocate from their original locations.  However, the relocation would be minor, a few hundred feet east or west of the original spot.

“As the water came down Main Street, it was like a massive water pressure built up on the front doors of all the businesses,” said Duncan. All the businesses were either taken out by the storm or had their doors smashed in and filled with silt and debris. 

Duncan explained how the village received assistance from multiple sources, including more than 200 troops from the 101st Airborne who camped at Chimney Rock State Park.  

Additionally, they were connected with Spokes of Hope, which, according to Duncan, brought in 50 to 100 volunteers daily. The organization brought in donations, and volunteers worked to dig out the entire downtown, muck it out, mitigate it, and treat it for mold. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has reimbursed Chimeny Rock for most of its recovery expenses. These included $600,000 in security costs and $500,000 distributed to community members.

Additionally, almost $3 million in funding from the state legislature was used to rebuild the water and sewer system.

The town also received six grants from the North Carolina Department of Commerce: five $ $1 million grants and one $500,000 grant for a total of $5.5 million in grant money earmarked for projects such as rebuilding the central river park in the middle of the town, and rehabilitating the damages to the current streetscape, curbs, gutters and stormwater systems. 

“Right now, every downtown business is either nearly finished or will be finished in the next month and has been completely rebuilt on the inside,” said Duncan. This includes all the framing and all the floors. 

Despite the destruction that left Chimney Rock unrecognizable, officials anticipate reopening many downtown businesses within the next month. 

“Right now, we’re making sure that they have display cases and shelving, and we’re already connecting everybody so we can get back into the sewer,” continued Duncan. “They’re already connected to the water, our reservoirs are good to go, the pumps are all good, we’re hoping we’re within 30 days to reopen 15 to 20 of our downtown businesses.” 

What’s NeeDeD

Duncan expressed an opportunity for private investors to repurchase some FEMA-acquired land.

“FEMA has regulations which we believe are not in the best interest of the community,” said Duncan. He explained that FEMA’s restrictions limit the land’s use to mainly public parks. While they welcome private investment, buyers would need to pay the land’s pre-Helene value, which Duncan acknowledged as “a pretty risky potential endeavor.”

Duncan explained that while downtown businesses are close to reopening, the town still has needs. One is to raise money to build new city structures on unused land. A private 501 (c) (3) has been set up called the Chimney Rock Economic Development and Investment Team (CREDIT). 

“We have multiple projects that we would like to run through CREDIT because that way we don’t have to go through some of the hoops that the government goes through, said Duncan.  “We can partner with private entities and individuals to help them invest.”  

A few buildings and tracts of land have already been cited that could become a viable contributing part of rebuilding the downtown. 

“We could use some people who are willing to put some money in and come in and work with us, but it will have to be long-term,” said Duncan. “The next three years are going to be the time that opportunities are going to need to be pursued.”

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