Local officials are targeting an anniversary as they reopen restaurants and shops in popular tourist destinations in North Carolina.
Chimney Rock, North Carolina – “Chimney Rock is gone.”
That’s how an upset resident explained the scene in hours of video footage after Hurricane Helen swept western North Carolina on September 27, 2024.
With incredible power, it was scattered with raging water that littered through the main streets of this mountain village along a rocky river.
Peter O’Leary remembers the destruction scene in the hours and days after the disaster. He is the mayor of Chimney Rock and runs the Baba O’Leary general store on Main Street with his wife.
“Most of these people, when you look around, almost everyone is coming from somewhere else. They came here and fell in love with it.
“Everything you washed away from the obvious has been washed away. But we will recover. We will return. New memories will be built here.
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“We have a better day. We still have a lot of work before us, but we have hope. We cannot overcome this without hope.”
Helen landed in Florida’s Big Bend area as a Category 4 hurricane on September 26th, and arrived in western North Carolina a day later. It left a strip of destruction in the southeastern part of the country, stretching to eastern Tennessee.
Floods in western North Carolina have overturned records that have been standing for more than a century. The French Broad River in Asheville peaked at 24.67 feet, surpassing the previous high water mark, 23.1 feet from July 1916.
Just before Helen collided, the storm drenched Asheville and surrounding towns.
At Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, walls of water ran down the river, erasing many structures along Chimney Rock’s main street, straining the dam holding back Lure Lake.
Located about 25 miles southeast of Asheville, Chimney Rock is home to Chimney Rock State Park, one of North Carolina’s first tourist attractions.
Lure Lake is a historic town where outdoor enthusiasts flock to the waters of the same name and stay in cabins, cottages and Lake Learn. Most of the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing” was filmed.
The two communities are within walking distance of each other, near a wide river-crossing bridge in the mountains of Rutherford County.
The iconic 315-foot-high chimney lock is located above a state park decorated with American flags waving in the mountain winds.
The building was washed away
When the flood plowed, it carried the building and its contents, slamming it all onto the concrete bridge between chimney lock and Lure Lake.
The bridge across the river leading to Chimney Rock State Park was washed away like most private bridges connecting roads and homes.
Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary is a general store for Baba O’Leary, before his business on March 3, 2025. Jeff Louderback/Epoch Times
At Lure Lake, the flood relocated the marina dock and boats moored there. The boat was wound up on the remains that were cleaned from the lake rocks, including many of the lake’s debris.
It disappeared behind restaurants and gift shops that had riverside balconies along the rocky Broad River. Several buildings along Main Street were swept from the foundation, while other structures were moved by floods.
Faith-based volunteers provide hope
O’Leary says he is confident that the village will flourish again this year, thanks to the help of private organizations. Most of them are faith-based nonprofits.
The Spokes of Hope is a Christian nonprofit based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The organization was launched in 2018 after Hurricane Florence struck the area.
Three days after Helen hit, members of the Spokes of Hope arrived in western North Carolina. Their path led to the chimney lock where the group was still.
“When I first arrived here, I stood on the top of the street and looked down and saw all the destruction,” a spokesperson for Hope Founder, Shane Zockol, told the Epoch Times.
“I asked myself. I asked God, I thought it was too much. The silt and sand were about three feet tall on the road. It was overwhelming.”
Zoccole said the volunteer spirit was lifted when 640 soldiers arrived from the 101st Airborne.
“We’ve all been working on removing the mud. It was two feet above the floor of the building. Now there are walls and floors inside the building. They’re ready to be open again. What once overwhelmed is now inspiration.
The Southwest Ohio response to disasters (sword) is part of Nazarene Mission International. Ed Dyer is the organization’s director, and recovery efforts in western North Carolina and flooding in Kentucky support bold areas.
“I think we bring more than work. We bring hope and recovery not only for their buildings, but for their lives. We promise to connect with people and show the love of Christ.
Open in time for summer tourists
Merchants rely on thousands of tourists who visit Chimney Rock and shops and eat in the village, Allley said.
He flocks to Chimney Rock State Park every year with around 400,000 visitors.
“Every river from here to Lure Lake was destroyed or severely damaged,” O’Leary said, standing in front of his general store. The attached building where he sold the equipment and supplies he equipped was now empty space.
“There were seven businesses that were completely gone here. In total, there were 46 businesses in town. We lost 15. So 30% of the businesses are not here anymore,” O’Leary said, adding that many homes and private bridges were also destroyed.
Chimney Rock State Park remains closed to the public almost six months after Hurricane Helen hit the area on March 3, 2025. Jeff Louderback/Epoch Times
O’Leary said the village is trying to open several businesses by Memorial Day.
“We can’t afford not to be open. We are all small business owners and we can’t afford to have a summer without income,” he said.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation Engineers is working to restore access to Chimney Rock State Park.
Engineers are exploring temporary structure options to connect the roads of U.S. 64/74A and Chimney Rock State Park by the time the park opens, serving as temporary routes and necessary economic boosts.
Damage from Hurricane Helen in Chimney Rock, North Carolina on March 3, 2025 remains in the tasting rooms and bistros at the Bistro in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. Jeff Louderback/Epoch Times
A rich history of tourists
Many Chimney Rock families have lived in the village for decades, Ollary said.
In the late 1800s, families began charging visitors a quarter. Chimney Rock became one of North Carolina’s first tourist attractions when Dr. Lucius B. Morse purchased the 64-acre Chimney Rock Mountain with his twin brothers in 1902.
Morse was a Missouri practitioner until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He was encouraged to seek a more crowded and healthy climate in order to fully recover, which led him to western North Carolina.
Morse imagines a resort and a lake, and over the next 20 years, Chimney Rock Mountain, Inc. has acquired thousands of acres in the surrounding area.
They built a hydroelectric dam on the rocky Broad River that formed Lure Lake. The town of Lure Lake was founded in 1927.
Lure Lake covers 720 acres and features almost 27 miles of coastline and seven acres of islands. The Lake Rule Inn was built in 1927 and hosts senior officials such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Calvin Coolidge and author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Actors Patrick Sways and Jennifer Gray stayed at the inn when “The Dirty Dance” was filmed.
The house will be seen after Hurricane Helen passed in Chimney Rock, North Carolina on October 2, 2024. Mike Stewart/AP
The historic lodge, which includes a main inn, a motel and three cabins, has not caused much damage from the disaster, said Kenfloyd, general manager of Lake Ruain.
But the business, tied to the autumn leaves viewing season, attracting thousands of tourists, was affected by the hurricanes.
Lake Lure Inn houses contractors, government workers, organizational volunteers and FEMA paying guests who have been evacuated by Helene.
The inn was hosting a wedding when the storm struck. The guests stayed and the wedding was held with a limited number of staff. “Everyone was already there and we couldn’t go anywhere,” Floyd said.
Before Helen, Lake Learin attracted guests swarming up the lake and chimney lock area. Chimney Rock’s recovery will also help Inn’s long-term success, Floyd said.
From cleanup to construction
Chimney Rock recovery has moved from cleanup to construction. From sunrise to sunset, volunteers work carpenters at restaurants and shops along Main Street, accompanied by the sounds of heavy machinery operating along rivers and roads.
“We were delighted when the cleanup phase evolved into a construction site,” Zockor said. “Everything you see here is free. They are materials, hands, volunteers. There were volunteers from 42 states. They’re beautiful to see.”
O’Leary claims that the chimney lock has been “wiped off the map” after watching video and news reports shortly after Helene.
He said he hopes a wealth of videos and news outlets will report backs in the area.
“We have to show everyone that the chimney lock is back,” O’Leary said. “We want people to see that we’ve overcome all the destruction and we’re rebuilt, but we’re still here.”
