Still going strong a year later
Jaren Gragg
MNJ Correspondent
It’s been a year since Helene struck Western North Carolina, forever changing the lives of the people who live and work in Mitchell and surrounding counties.
Hurricane Helene (downgraded to a tropical storm after slowing down over land) ravaged the area in September 2024. In Bakersville, many of the small businesses downtown and in other creekside areas gave struggled to recover.
Despite the progress that has been made since the hurricane, many business owners suggest that there is still work that needs to be done.
Aaron Young, owner of Young’s Fuel and associated with many of the small businesses in Bakersville, said, “The greatest thing is to see where we were a year ago, and to see where we are now. That is entirely because of our community.”
Young mentions that family and friends in the community came to help with the damage caused by Helene to his offices. Many friends and family helped Young shovel mud and clean out the offices that had been underwater. Family members also helped bring a crew from Indiana to assist with relief efforts around the area. Young stated that they collaborated with other businesses in the area to rebuild and participate in the relief efforts taking place around Bakersville.
Young recalls being contacted to help fuel power trucks around the area to aid in the relief effort and to get the county operation back up and running.
“You don’t realize how much you meet each other until there’s a situation like this,” Young said. “It shows you the true nature of the community, of how much people care about one another here.”
Robbie Bell, owner of Speckled Dog Pottery and co-owner of Mica Art Gallery, said that all the locals were amazing during Helene and the relief efforts. Bell said that many of the locals around Mitchell and the surrounding areas were more conscious of buying from local artists and from local businesses.
Bell added that since the hurricane, local businesses have continued to support one another, ensuring that business owners are taken care of.
Mica Art Gallery and other galleries like Mica support more than 40 local artists from Mitchell, Yancey, and surrounding counties.
“When you are coming into Mica, you are talking to an artist. You may not realize it, but whoever sits behind that counter has made something at Mica,” he said.
Bell and other business owners, including Young, said buying local remains one of the most important ways to support the local economy and ongoing recovery efforts.
Both Bell and Young concur that nothing will return to “normal.” Young said that there will always be locations and fixtures in the community that longtime residents remember will have completely changed or not be there anymore because of Helene, but that Bakersville will rebuild and emerge stronger. It will be a “different normal.”
Both Young and Bell are optimistic about the future of Bakersville. Young ended by saying that he is so “grateful for the community that I live in,” and that he is thankful for the support from the community and that they mean a tremendous amount to him and his family.