From CPP: Out of the mud. Talking with storm survivors in Yancey and Mitchell counties.

by Jack Igelman, Carolina Public Press
October 5, 2024

At 7 a.m. on Sept. 27, six inches of water covered 82-year-old Richard Bailey’s road near Micaville, in rural Yancey County where he lives with his wife, he told Carolina Public Press a week later.

Within an hour, the water flowing from two creeks, one of them Cane Branch, which framed a small enclave of a handful of homes, climbed the concrete steps and water entered his home.

“I got in my truck to get the hell out of here,” said Bailey over the din of a generator powering a pump to remove water from his basement.

But he couldn’t leave. The road was blocked in both directions.

“There was probably enough water to float the car,” he recalled thinking. He was right. Soon his gray sedan floated away. “It’s in the Toe, I guess,” he chuckled, referring to the South Toe River. “But it could be in Tennessee.”

The rising water flooded his basement, but spared the main level of his brick bungalow. The home is livable, he said.

Many communities and businesses, such as the homes in Micaville, 7 miles east of Burnsville, were overwhelmed by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Helene in Yancey and Mitchell counties, among the highest locations in the Eastern United States. This article includes conversations with residents of both counties.

Surviving in Yancey County

Across the street, Bailey’s neighbor Kathy Ayers’ ranch house along Cane Branch was flooded.

A crew of volunteers from distant Mocksville worked Friday to empty the contents of her home into a pile in the front yard. Nothing was salvaged. One volunteer pushed a layer of mud from her front porch, as if shoveling snow.

“I was awake at three in the morning (Sept. 27) watching the water,” she said. By then the raging creek was two steps from the house. “We had to get out. We barely did escape.”

On the other side of the creek her sister’s empty trailer home was swept away.

“It’s overwhelming, but we’re safe, we got out,” Ayers said. “I don’t know if I want to be in this home or not, it’s too soon to say.”

She is uncertain whether the home will be condemned. Currently, the basement is filled with water.

Once Ayers and others apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, an inspection will evaluate whether a home is safe, sanitary and livable.

In the Cane River community, 5 miles west of Burnsville, Alan Cunningham sat on the porch of his two-story 100 year-old farmhouse with his dog Lady on Friday.

The 70 year-old lived in his home for 28 years in a floodplain at the confluence of Bald Creek and Cane River.

Cunningham pointed at the front door: “See the line? That’s five feet high. By 7:30 (a.m. on Sept. 27), it was that high in the house.”

During the flood, he waited on the second floor for the water to recede.

“The Lord watches over me,” he said. “At the moment I’m staying with my sister and brother-in-law.” Cunningham is waiting for FEMA to inspect the home before he removes the debris.

“It’s driving me nuts leaving the mess,” he said. His three pick-ups are parked in his field where he tends a large garden, each vehicle destroyed by the flood.  “This home was built solid. I hope to move back in if I can.”

Cleaning up in Mitchell County

In downtown Spruce Pine in Mitchell County, multiple businesses on Locust Street were clearing their flooded spaces on Friday afternoon.

Train tracks separating the shops, offices and restaurants from the North Toe River are under repair by a crew of CSX Corporation rail employees. According to a Thursday update on CSX’s website, the Blue Ridge Subdivision of railway suffered extensive damage and there is no estimated time for reopening.

A retired yellow CSX caboose at the former passenger train station between the river and Locust Street was shrouded in mud on Friday, submerged by the flood during the storm a week earlier. The same was true for most of the businesses in the lower portion of downtown Spruce Pine.

At Treasures in the Pines, owner Cheryl Buchanan stood in the center of Locust Street wearing a pink shirt and black cap. She owns an emporium that supports more than 60 consignors, who are local artists, antique dealers and sellers of knick-knacks.

She expected to have a five-year anniversary party on Oct. 9. Now she’s focused on emptying the shop where most of the merchandise was destroyed.

Whether she reopens is uncertain: “It’s too soon to tell,” she said.

While Buchanan was talking with CPP, third-term Spruce Pine mayor Phillip Hise, embraced her. The two graduated from high-school in the same class.

Running water has been restored to the southern end of Spruce Pine, Hise said.

“Hopefully we’ll have water service back to the whole town by mid to late next week,” he said.

While the water may flow soon, Hise said the sewer system is not rebuildable, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

“What scares me is when everybody gets water, we don’t have a sewer system to take care of it,” he said.

Hise credited local mining companies in Spruce Pine for their support.

Among them is Sibelco, one of the largest suppliers of high-purity quartz, used to manufacture silicon for integrated circuits. Sibelco is the second largest employer in the county, which has 15,000 residents.

“They’ve closed their doors, dropped their equipment and manpower,” he said. “We’ve had so much help.”

The devastation to the county, however, is widespread. “Everywhere I look I see something else that I wish I had never seen. We’ll take this one-bite-at-a-time.”

Down the street on Friday, Deanna Buchanan and her husband, executive chef Brian Myler, were cleaning their restaurant, Live Oak Gastropub, which opened in 2022. Amy O’Conner, the building owner helped them.

“Last year was great,” Buchanan said. “We were really hoping to knock it out of the park this year.”

October is typically their most lucrative month. “We’d like to reopen,” she said.

The future, however, seemed less certain Friday for 66 year-old Avril Wilson who was taking a break in a chair from clearing her two businesses, an art gallery and message business.

“Obviously it’s total devastation,” she said. Among the losses was 10 years worth of her artwork and crafts. “I don’t know if I can afford to find another place and start again.”

Amid the destruction, earlier in the day a volunteer from Pennsylvania discovered a photograph of Wilson’s late husband.

“Things like that are important,” she said. “There’s so many people from so many states helping us out and it’s amazing. It’s appreciated.”

“Humanity,” she said loudly above the roar of a passing dump truck. “It does exist.”

Images of Yancey and Mitchell counties, a photo essay

This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.