Over a year and a half after Hurricane Helene rocked western North Carolina, businesses in Chimney Rock are starting to see pre-storm numbers. April Schick organized merchandise outside of her store on Main Street on Friday. Even 500-plus days removed from the store, she remembers the damage brought by the water like it was yesterday.”The wall of water came down Main Street hard, just slammed down. It brought dumpsters down with it, and tree trunks and boulders,” she said. “I watched everything come down, and what happened was we had so much rain and three rivers converged together and came smashing down, bringing everything with it. I watch roofs of houses come down cause I was up there, halfway up the mountain, trucks with their headlights still on and a lot of propane tanks.” Schick said the water and debris “slammed into door and knocked the door off the hinges, and it slammed and just rock and rolled in the store, and all the showcases were smashed to the ground, and I had two feet of mud. But the building is still there.”Her two stores, Under the Rock and April’s Boutique, were closed for nearly a year. “Being closed for 11 months, your bills don’t stop, but your income does, and that’s still to this day an issue,” she said.It’s a similar situation just a couple of doors down at the River Watch Bar and Grill. “This unprecedented storm really did change the entire game for us here. And, we lost a lot of businesses, some that are gone for good,” said manager Patrick Bryant. The silver lining is reopening popular roads and enhancing the travel season. “The resurgence is here. And, the lake will reopen by Memorial Day. The beach will reopen, with the north side of Henderson County and 64 from Bat Cave reopening. It’s definitely opened up a new transit system for us that has always existed. I think in some ways, we took it for granted before the storm,” Bryant said. Schick is reminding folks they’re more than open and welcoming guests. “Right now, we just need everyone’s support. We need to help pay our bills because they piled up in the 11 months, and we’re still fighting,” she said.
Over a year and a half after Hurricane Helene rocked western North Carolina, businesses in Chimney Rock are starting to see pre-storm numbers.
April Schick organized merchandise outside of her store on Main Street on Friday. Even 500-plus days removed from the store, she remembers the damage brought by the water like it was yesterday.
“The wall of water came down Main Street hard, just slammed down. It brought dumpsters down with it, and tree trunks and boulders,” she said. “I watched everything come down, and what happened was we had so much rain and three rivers converged together and came smashing down, bringing everything with it. I watch roofs of houses come down cause I was up there, halfway up the mountain, trucks with their headlights still on and a lot of propane tanks.”
Schick said the water and debris “slammed into [the] door and knocked the door off the hinges, and it slammed and just rock and rolled in the store, and all the showcases were smashed to the ground, and I had two feet of mud. But the building is still there.”
Her two stores, Under the Rock and April’s Boutique, were closed for nearly a year.
“Being closed for 11 months, your bills don’t stop, but your income does, and that’s still to this day an issue,” she said.
It’s a similar situation just a couple of doors down at the River Watch Bar and Grill.
“This unprecedented storm really did change the entire game for us here. And, we lost a lot of businesses, some that are gone for good,” said manager Patrick Bryant.
The silver lining is reopening popular roads and enhancing the travel season.
“The resurgence is here. And, the lake will reopen by Memorial Day. The beach will reopen, with the north side of Henderson County and 64 from Bat Cave reopening. It’s definitely opened up a new transit system for us that has always existed. I think in some ways, we took it for granted before the storm,” Bryant said.
Schick is reminding folks they’re more than open and welcoming guests.
“Right now, we just need everyone’s support. We need to help pay our bills because they piled up in the 11 months, and we’re still fighting,” she said.