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    • Flooding in Asheville, NC destroys shops and breweries in the River Arts District
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    Flooding in Asheville, NC destroys shops and breweries in the River Arts District

    Vaseline Posted on

    ASHEVILLE – The Riverlink Bridge, a central gateway between downtown and West Asheville, overlooks the River Arts District and has become something of a gathering point as residents reel from the historic damage that leveled businesses during the devastating flooding caused by Tropical Storm Helene.

    Asheville, NC flooding live updates: Buncombe County to discuss the latest relief efforts

    When the water passed in the early afternoon of September 28, the river was still well above the banks at more than 16 feet, according to NOAA. Bystanders continued to flock to the bridge named after a regional nonprofit dedicated to the health and safety of the French Broad River. The reaction for many is a sense of awe, sadness and horror as the River Arts District below, known as one of the most prominent arts centers in the Western North Carolina region, becomes completely submerged.

    For many entrepreneurs in the neighborhood, the devastation is total. Along Depot Street, a car sits empty in the middle of the road with its window open and child seats covered in mud, apparently dragged from its original location. Nearby, Erin Quevedo, the owner of Balm Salon on Depot Street, was ankle deep in mud, trying to salvage as much of her business as she could.

    “The salon was completely destroyed. It looks like the water was about five feet inside,” Quevedo said. Five hairstylists worked with her in the salon.

    “Right now we’re just trying to save what we can,” Erin Quevedo said, noting that only a few things, such as hairstyle aids, were salvageable. “A lot of it was underwater.”

    Inside the salon, flooding had caused parts of the walls to peel away, as her husband, Ted, bagged hair products and supplies while standing in a thick veil of mud. The future is unclear.

    “It’s really heartbreaking. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to do. I think it’s just one step at a time,” Quevedo said.

    “I would like to rebuild if I can, but I mean, it’s really hard to say. Like this could be a devastating blow to my business and my livelihood,” she continued.

    Other businesses appear to have been completely destroyed by the flooding. Second Gear along Riverside Drive appears to have imploded under the weight of the river. The building is there

    Just a few minutes away on Depot Street, Jason Razillard hands out pastries and coffee from the back of his van as residents pass by and hang out in shock from the event on the Riverlink Bridge. Just after receiving a cold brew from the man, Gabby Fricke, a Deaverview resident who was staying with friends in West Asheville, reflected on the horror of the event.

    “It’s heartbreaking. It really is. We’re a little isolated because we’ve seen fallen trees, but this? This was shocking,” said Gabby Fricke. “I can’t imagine what the people in the Swannanoa Valley are going through.”

    Others rowed down the river in a canoe or kayak, while others just stared from the bridge as kegs – likely from one of the many damaged breweries in the area – propane tanks and shipping containers slowly made their way down the river. A debris pile from the storm has gathered at the Craven Street Bridge and appears to be trapping itself against the road as the river rushes past.

    Fricke’s girlfriend, Hannah Bink, is from Wilmington, the city on the coast of North Carolina that is often prone to hurricanes and tropical storms. However, Bink felt that the flooding in Asheville was very different, as Wilmington often has the infrastructure and planning for weather events.

    “There is infrastructure in place that can contain the river,” Bink said of Wilmington’s containment of the Cape Fear River.

    ‘This was clearly not planned. None of this was planned,” Bink said, looking at the French Broad.

    More: Asheville, NC floods live updates: ‘Biblical devastation’ reported; deliveries will come by air, the government says

    Asheville Citizen Times Local News Editor Aaron Nelsen contributed to this story.

    Will Hofmann is the growth and development reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Do you have a tip? Email him at [email protected]. Please consider supporting this kind of journalism with a subscription to Citizen Time

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