It's going to take years to recover." Chimney Rock, the tiny town roughly 25 miles southeast of Asheville that’s home to the iconic Chimney Rock State Park, was nearly wiped off the map by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.

Tracy Stevens had left her house in Chimney Rock Thursday night and gotten a room at the Lake Lure Inn, which had a generator and was staying open through the storm. The two towns, both popular tourist destinations, are walking distance to one another, joined by a bridge across the Broad River in the mountains of Rutherford County.