Helene-ravaged river town reopens for visitors: ‘It felt like victory’

MARSHALL, NC – Nearly nine months have passed since Hurricane Helene made its way through Western North Carolina, washing out homes and businesses. 

In the small mountain town of Marshall, just 30 minutes north of Asheville, business owners are eager for visitors. The main town sits along the French Broad River, which rose nearly 25 feet during Helene’s storms, calculated by the U.S. Geological Survey. 

The town reopened to visitors in May and each week more businesses are opening their doors. 

Some business owners still remember the layer of mud caked on the floor, covering their belongings like a blanket. 

“I had no words, I mean I was crying,” says Connie Molland, co-founder of Flow Gallery. “To walk into this space and see what we had left was all toppled all over and covered in mud.”

POPULAR NORTH CAROLINA DESTINATIONS STILL RECOVERING FROM HELENE

Molland says before the storm she tried to gather as much of the handcrafted art as she could. The gallery lost about 30% of its artwork from Helene. 

The gallery was not the only business crushed under Helene’s wrath. 

Zuma’s Coffee owner, Joel Friedman, says he had to climb through his windows just to get inside his coffee shop.

“All these windows busted out, all the contents went out with it. All the tables, chairs, the equipment. It was total destruction,” he tells FOX. 

Friedman and Molland say volunteers from all over the country showed up on their doorstep. Wearing protective gear, carrying tools, and ready to work. 

NORTH CAROLINA TOWN DESTROYED BY HURRICANE HELENE HOPING TO WELCOME TOURISTS BACK BY MIDSUMMER 

“That’s what was keeping us going during that time,” says Molland, “people just showing up and feeling good about how they were helping us.”

Friedman has the same story, “soon as everybody could come downtown, they were here with shovels and wheelbarrows and they went to work.”

Flow Gallery opened at the end of March and it has been six weeks since Zuma’s Coffee invited locals back in.

“It felt like victory, there’s just small victories every day leading up to the final, ‘ahhh, we’ve made it,'” says Friedman.

“It is back to where it was, or maybe even a little better.”

 Several businesses are still rebuilding and getting ready to reopen their doors.