Residents of Haywood County will have more information at their fingertips the next time flooding presents a risk, after Haywood County commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of seven new river gauges to monitor area waterways. 

With billions in damages, limited state aid and considerable uncertainty surrounding federal funding, local officials are still pushing for streamlined disaster response to rebuild their communities months after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina.

When Hurricane Helene roared through Western North Carolina last fall, the storm ravaged and decimated several small mountain towns. One of the most devastated communities was Marshall (population 777) in the rural landscape of Madison County. 

For the first time in nearly three years, the trail to Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s tallest waterfall is fully open — and following an intensive rehabilitation of its entire four-mile length, Ramsey Cascades Trail is in better shape than it’s been in decades.  

Mary Garrison and her husband, Fairview Fire Department Battalion Chief Tony Garrison, awoke around 4 a.m. on Sept. 27 to a darkened home with no electricity, torrential rainfall pounding the ground and high winds from Hurricane Helene screaming through their tiny, isolated Craigtown community. 

Like much of Haywood County, Waynesville wasn’t affected by Hurricane Helene as badly as many other Western North Carolina communities, but businesses, residents and the town still incurred millions in costly damages that will take time to fix. 

The Town of Canton’s temporary operations hub on Summer Street, home to town hall and the police department since shortly after deadly flooding in 2021, is about to get a little bigger. 

When the Safe Passage coalition started working in 2017 to make Interstate 40 a safer place for people and wildlife through the Pigeon River Gorge, nobody knew that, in a few short years, entire sections of the critical roadway would vanish in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

A trio of high-ranking state and federal agriculture officials is warning that if farmers affected by Hurricane Helene don’t get help soon, next year could be a bleak one for both producers and consumers. 

The USDA Forest Service released its preliminary data on the ecological impacts and infrastructure damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene on the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests in North Carolina.