SOUTH ASHEVILLE, NC — After a month Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in this corner of western North Carolina, debris is everywhere.

Shade trees are cut to pieces, laid on lawns, while ruined floors and flagstones pile up beside the roads.

Bridges are cut in half, while houses, vehicles and appliances are scattered, stuck to riverbanks or resting in unexpected places. The remains of a caravan, several meters off the ground, are wedged into the railing of a city playground. A dirty blue sedan sits almost upright, parked on a wooden fence.

If you spend time on social media, every few days there are new images or videos with new stories of destruction.

From September 27, groups and individuals have he worked tirelessly to make sure people have what they need, from food to gloves to generators.

It’s a community driven to rebuild while honoring the dozens of mountain dwellers who died in floods or landslides.

But the recovery will be a massive undertaking, and while there is a stream of positive energy running through the region, it’s hard not to be exhausted living here.

Workers lost their wages and small business owners lost their dreams. Some restaurants and retailers may open, but with reduced hours and fewer offerings.

The children missed up to a month of school. The largest district in the area returned to class on Friday.

Tourism, a critical source of revenue for the region, especially in October, has been blocked.

In Helene’s wake, officials quickly asked visitors to reconsider their fall vacations. Now, many western North Carolina towns are clamoring for the return of day-trippers and leaf-watchers. Individual Asheville businesses advertise their hours, encouraging customers.

Behind a wire fence, the entrance to the legendary Biltmore Estate looks like it’s under construction, with fewer trees and a view where a building once stood. It’s a dusty place because there hasn’t been any rain since Helene and her previous storm dropped more than a dozen inches.

Asheville’s decimated water system is slowly coming back online. Most people have water, but it can be brown and only suitable for washing. Shower trailers are installed in the city. Towers of bottled water are in every store because tap water cannot be safely used without boiling it first.

Bike and hiking trails are reopening, allowing for some fresh air and a chance to exhale. But with the Blue Ridge Parkway closed for the foreseeable future, many favorite mountains and vistas remain inaccessible.

The scope and cost of the recovery is immense.

The state budget office estimated Helena’s damage and recovery needs at $53 billion. Friday, General Assembly approved a second round of aid funding totaling $604 million, which is in addition to an initial outlay of $253 million. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) requested $3.9 billion, which he called “a down payment on the future of western North Carolina.”

The state Department of Transportation has identified more than 7,000 locations with road damage, including 654 bridges. At least 100 of those bridges need to be replaced, at a cost of at least $1 million apiece, according to a report in the Assembly.

The hit to tourism amounts to a potential “economic maelstrom,” said Elizabeth Button, president of Asheville Independent Restaurants (AIR). The Asheville Citizen Times reported.

In 2023, Asheville generated $2.97 billion from tourism, conformable Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. It represents 20 percent of the county’s gross domestic product.

Citing that figure, AIR called for state and federal economic support to protect the industry, which employs nearly 15,000 people.

As leaders and residents discuss progress, conversations have focused on answers to the tough question: What can we learn from this and how can we reset? Will areas that were never expected to flood but are now rubble be redeveloped? In a city that already has barriers to affordable housing, this discussion will need to be thoughtful and critical.

Asheville leaders have talked for years about the need to overhaul the city’s aging water system. This event has pushed that discussion to the fore, and the repairs will be expensive.

Recovery efforts are already looking different at the start of the second post-Helene month.

Buncombe County has received such an outpouring of donations — from water to food to clothing — it is asked for donors to switch to financial support.

Much of the cleanup and rebuilding will now require professional expertise rather than the efforts of neighbors and volunteers.

For most, the tragedies in Asheville, Lake Lure, Burnsville, Spruce Pine, Marshall, Hot Springs, Green Mountain and many other towns and cities will move into the rearview mirror long before — years before — life returns to normal.

But as the overwhelming outside response to Helene moves on, it is imperative for the future of western North Carolina that its needs are not forgotten.

Katie Wadington is deputy managing editor of The Hill. She has lived in the Asheville area since 2005 and spent 15 years on the staff of the Asheville Citizen Times.

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