Popular North Carolina destinations still working to recover from Hurricane Helene's impact

Hurricane Helene devastated towns across the south in September causing record rainfall and triggering historic flooding Seven months later the U S Army Corps of Engineers USACE is still on the ground leading the clean-up effort in western North Carolina one of those towns being Lake Lure A waterpark in the town which would normally be busy prepping for its peak season at the moment has no running water to fill pools or operate watersides as water has been cut off so that debris can be removed Engineer George Minges stated there is close to ten feet of debris under the silt and sand in certain areas of Lake Lure NORTH CAROLINA TOWN DESTROYED BY HURRICANE HELENE HOPING TO WELCOME TOURISTS BACK BY MIDSUMMER It's this avalanche of soil and trees and rocks and homes All these came down the river here and were deposited in the lakes Minges noted USACE Col Brad Morgan noted his squad has spent months cleaning fragments of storm-damaged trees and other debris from waterways At least of the storm-generated debris from Hurricane Helene had determined its way into particular type of waterway within Western North Carolina Morgan explained We've got selected specialized equipment we brought in from the Gulf of America It's been out here working since November The USACE has also cleared roadways and is still hauling debris from homes and businesses We ostensibly have private property parcels that we'll clean up L A has about So just that one part of this mishap response is equal in the size of that of L A Morgan noted HURRICANE HELENE CLEANUP IN EAST TENNESSEE FACES STIFF DEADLINELake Lure Mayor Carol Pritchett revealed the town relied on contractors for the first three weeks but the USACE has brought the town much further along With the Army Corps of Engineers they genuinely began three weeks after Helene and it was a God-send We would not be where we are at present truthfully without them Pritchett revealed Pritchett stated the town has a great crisis management plan in place for hurricanes but the power of Hurricane Helene was unexpected We had a great emergency plan Pritchett explained It was based on and predicted on what the general perspective of what a hurricane has inevitably meant to someone in these western North Carolina mountains This was just not that hurricane The Army Corps of Engineers has removed more than million cubic yards of debris in western North Carolina since helping with clean-up efforts in the area Leaders revealed the goal is to remove all debris by July