Chimney Rock, North Carolina, was unrecognizable after Hurricane Helene swept through, bringing mudslides and flash flooding that ripped apart homes.
At the time, it took hours and an escort for CBS News to reach the village, since the only access road had been washed away. Eight months later, the tourist town still isn’t ready to welcome summer visitors, putting residents who rely on the tourism industry in peril.
Residents like Theresa and Glenn Cauthren had to move into the Chimney Rock Inn, the hotel they own, after their house filled with mud.
They had hoped the hotel would have reopened by now, like hotels in Asheville and other nearby cities, but Chimney Rock is still without running water and sanitation.
“I had no idea it was going to take this long,” Glenn Cauthren told CBS News.
Similar cases can be seen along Main Street.
Peter O’Leary owns Bubba O’Leary’s General Store, and he also serves as mayor of the town of 125. His store also filled up with mud after the hurricane, he said.
Chimney Rock’s remote location and the very geography that makes the town so stunning have also made recovery work slower and more expensive.
“Even though we’re making great progress, there’s still so much to do,” O’Leary said.
“I was in Asheville this morning. I was in Hendersonville this morning. And life is normal. And then you come here and it’s just totally upside down,” O’Leary said. “And, you know, that’s just what we’re all trying to come to grips with, is that our neighbors just a few miles away are living their lives and we’re still trying to recover.”
But that’s not deterring the community, including the Cauthrens.
“We are resilient,” Theresa Cauthren said, adding, “We’re gonna be back and it’s gonna be better than ever.”