Helene decimates Chimney Rock, NC, a mountain town washed away by the storm

A week after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast, killing at least 180 people and leaving millions without power, the extent of the devastation is becoming increasingly clear.

The storm decimated Chimney Rock, N.C., a historic mountain town 20 miles southeast of Asheville. It’s practically gone.

Floods leveled buildings and washed away roads and bridges. A huge debris field from Chimney Rock flowed into nearby Lake Lure.

“What was once a city is now a river,” Tracey Stevens, who worked at Chimney Rock Brewery, told the Asheville Citizen-Times. “It’s beyond anything I can imagine.”

Read more about Chimney Rock:

President Biden visited North Carolina on Wednesday and took an aerial view of the damage at Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. The president promised to help the state rebuild.

“The nation stands behind you,” Biden said in a meeting with local officials. “We’re not leaving until you’re fully back on your feet.”