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Evan Donovan@EvanDonovan · Sep 30, 2024

NEW: I was able to get some great ground video in Chimney Rock, NC this afternoon — a gorgeous mountain tourist town…

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Summary

Hurricane Helene devastated Chimney Rock, North Carolina, a tourism-dependent mountain town near Lake Lure, with nearly every structure destroyed or severely damaged. The town's mayor reports their economy is completely gone, while iconic landmarks like the Flowering Bridge were washed out and infrastructure shows catastrophic damage including cracked concrete and collapsed roadsides.

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  1. #1

    NEW: I was able to get some great ground video in Chimney Rock, NC this afternoon — a gorgeous mountain tourist town near Lake Lure that was all but washed away by Hurricane #Helene This will be a sad thread for everyone who loves WNC 🧵 @wsoctv @WLOS_13

  2. #2

    The homes on the other side of the water from Chimney Rock Village have walls completely sheared off Some look like they’re about to fall in the water

  3. #3

    The damage to the village of Chimney Rock itself is catastrophic. Mayor Peter O’Leary told me “Our economy is 100% tourism, and it’s 100% gone.” He says every single structure in the town is either destroyed or severely damaged.

  4. #4

    The roadsides and concrete in the center of town are cracked and crumbling, which is why we couldn’t stay for long, and were asked to stay in the center of the lanes. Water used to be directly below many of these spots, now it’s a 40-foot drop in some places

  5. #5

    We saw from @WSOCChopper9 SkyZoom that the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge was washed out. The memorial highway bridge next to it was covered in logs that looked like matchsticks sticking out of a box But up close it was even more overwhelming

  6. #6

    We were encouraged to see the damage to Lake Lure didn’t *appear* to be as bad as we had feared, but we were only able to drive through it quickly, we weren’t allowed to stop But the boats in the marina were all stacked on top of each other

  7. #7

    Mayor O’Leary says he’s committed to bringing Chimney Rock back to life, but it’s too early to say when that might happen But he’s hoping when it’s time, everyone will come back He tells me they are putting up a gofundme in the meantime — I’ll share it here when I have it /end