Inside a North Carolina mountain town that Hurricane Helene nearly wiped off the map

Nearly 400 miles from where Hurricane Helene made landfall, the North Carolina mountain hamlet of Chimney Rock Village has been all but wiped off the map. The backs of restaurants and gift shops that boasted riverfront balconies dangle ominously in mid-air. The Hickory Nut Brewery, opened when Rutherford County went “wet” and allowed alcohol sales about a decade ago, collapsed nearly a week after the storm. The buildings across Main Street are choked with several feet of reddish-brown muck. A resident who served in the Iraq war said it reminded him of a combat zone.