Tropical Storm Helene didn’t exact the same degree of destruction in the Qualla Boundary, home to the sovereign nation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, as it did in areas further east in Western North Carolina. Still, the Cherokees suffered serious economic losses, from the tribe’s casino to its agricultural industries.
Now, the Eastern Band has mobilized to help neighbors in nearby counties.
“We received quite a bit of damage, but nothing like people east of Cherokee,” Anthony Sequoyah, the Eastern Band’s secretary of travel operations, told Carolina Public Press.
“We had maybe one home that was destroyed. But the Eastern Band received well over $10 million in private donations and from FEMA, and we’ve just been shipping it out. The Cherokees are known for giving and taking care of our own.”
Agricultural impacts for Cherokees
The tribe’s trout hatchery sustained the most dramatic damage: 25,000 pounds of fish washed away entirely when the small dam that feeds the hatchery spilled over.
Expensive fishing equipment and infrastructure were lost as well. Plus, the hatchery was in the middle of an extensive remodel. The Cherokees are working with the EPA to get the river routed correctly and the hatchery structure back in place.
“Our fishing industry is a huge income for the tribe,” Sequoyah said. “This is a big loss. And with that, we’re going to end up having to buy all our trout to stock for this coming year. This is going to have a substantial impact on us.”
Local farmers also suffered damage to fields and had their stores of hay wiped out, Sequoyah said.
Great Smoky Mountain Cannabis Company, which began recreational marijuana sales to anyone over the age of 18 in September, sustained no damage to either its cultivation site or its retail location, Cannabis Control Board chair Neil Denman told CPP.
However, sales at the dispensary may have taken a hit due to deflated tourism numbers after Helene.
Even though the tribe advertised its open-for-business status earlier than other areas, much of October was a wash for Cherokee businesses.
Tourism impacts on tribe
Closures of major interstates Interstate 26 and Interstate 40 discouraged from some travelers from going to the area in the aftermath of the storm, but ironically the closures also rerouted a lot of traffic through the Cherokee nation.
“We had a lot of traffic, but not a lot of people stopping and spending money,” Sequoyah said.
Still, UNC Asheville economics professor Leah Matthews predicts that Google Maps suggesting alternate routes to Tennessee through the Qualla Boundary likely offset some of the tourism losses. People were stopping for gas and snacks, at the very least.
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort is a major attraction on the Qualla Boundary. In the storm’s aftermath, it became a headquarters for relief agencies.
“We were very fortunate here,” casino spokesperson Brian Saunooke told CPP. “The biggest impact was being cut off from communications on that first day. Most of our employees are from Haywood County, so some of our staff had it much worse than the casino itself.”
There was a significant drop in visitors to the casino, particularly in the first few weeks after the storm, according to Saunooke. Most of the casino’s visitors come in from a three-hour radius around the Qualla Boundary from places like Charlotte and Atlanta. Road conditions in that radius kept many at home, even if the casino itself was perfectly fine.
“Our largest hotel tower, with 725 rooms, ended up being a temporary base for FEMA, Duke Energy, AT&T, and the US Forestry Service,” Saunooke said.
“Federal agencies have a rule that they cannot accept free accommodations, so they receive a greatly reduced government rate. Their meals were provided at a per diem rate.”
Now, some regular business has resumed at Harrah’s, according to Saunooke.
Unlike many tourism-based businesses in Western North Carolina, the casino’s visitors don’t plan every trip around autumn foliage. They want to gamble, not hike. While October is important, it doesn’t make up anywhere near the bulk of the casino’s yearly revenue.
Aid to others
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort sponsored an initiative, in partnership with Smoky Mountain Host, an organization that promotes tourism in Western North Carolina, to educate local businesses on how to get the word out that they are open and welcoming visitors.
“We are encouraging people to prevent a natural disaster from becoming an economic disaster,” Saunooke said.
The Cherokees writ-large have been consumed with charitable efforts since Helene hit the area in late September.
“When supplies and money from FEMA started arriving here,” Sequoyah said, “We just started shipping it all out: paper products, camping supplies, sleeping bags, stoves, heaters, propane, food.
“We opened up a warehouse and turned it into a staging area for shipping relief supplies out. We’ve been loading supplies on trucks and trailers nonstop — 10 or 12 trailers a day leave heading east toward Banner Elk, Burnsville, Marshall, Haywood County, even out to Marion.”
When Sequoyah spoke with CPP on Thursday, he was at the warehouse, working to load up trucks.
“It’s been a huge undertaking,” he said. “This work isn’t something we’re accustomed to, but it’s been a good feeling to help our neighbors.”
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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