FAIRVIEW, N.C. (WLOS) — Two months into the recovery from Helene, Buncombe County has 45 trucks working throughout the county to remove debris.
In many cases, debris is exactly what is preventing some homeowners from securing temporary housing on their properties and allowing the recovery work to continue.
Two months after the day Helene changed the lives of hundreds of families in the Fairview area, News 13 went back to areas near “Craigtown” and Garren Creek, where landslides have forever changed the heavily wooded landscape and the lives in those communities.
CHIMNEY ROCK AND LAKE LURE REBUILD EFFORTS CONTINUE TWO MONTHS AFTER DEVASTATING FLOODS
Thirteen people lost their lives in one section of Fairview where a landslide killed ten members of one family in Craigtown.
Two months later, trees uprooted in the storm and hurled at homes when the earth gave way still line much of Flat Creek Road.
In some areas, the piles are stacked as tall as 20 feet and neighbors said they have watched crews continue to haul what seems like 60 truckloads of debris from the area daily.
Some residents told News 13 they have begun working with their insurance companies and FEMA, but the process is slow as colder temperatures settle in.
Many homes in the area have travel trailers parked in the driveway, where residents are living until the needed repairs can be made.
For many of the homes heating sources, either gas tanks or HVAC systems, were washed away in the flooding.
NCDOT WARNS OF HIDDEN DANGERS AS KAYAKERS NAVIGATE DEBRIS-LADEN PIGEON RIVER GORGE
One piece of good news in the region accessing it has become easier with repairs to Old Fort Road.
The roadway slid off into the creek or down the hillside in at least several areas, taking the road down to one lane in many sections in the month that followed the storm.
Old Fort Road, two months later has been repaired, allowing two lanes of travel.
Heavy machinery is also working in the region to repair the banks of Cane Creek, while work on Flat Creek has yet to begin.