Helene 2024
The Great Flood.
On September 27, 2024, our world and the Western North Carolina community changed. After days of inundating rain, the remnants of Hurricane Helene entered our corner of the Appalachian Mountains. What followed was historic, catastrophic, and life-changing.
Rain had already been falling in and around Asheville when a low-pressure weather system stalled over our area around Tuesday, September 24. By the time Helene made her way up to the Carolinas, the soil was already saturated and runoff from the mountains was already beginning to cause rivers like the French Broad and Swannanoa to swell. As the storm hit on Thursday night and lingered into Friday morning, the additional rain plus tropical storm and even hurricane-force wind gusts caused biblical levels of destruction.
Dan and I, along with our son, Max watched in horror as cars and telephone poles floated by on our street, Riverside Drive, and began to lap at the front door of our Chocolate Factory. Fortunately, our team's preparation in sandbagging the front door prevented most of the water from breaching the interior. The water rose to 39" up our front door.
From the Asheville Citizen-Times:
In Asheville, areas including Biltmore Village were devastated by flooding. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Swannanoa River at Biltmore crested at 26.1 feet, nearly 6 feet above the record, at 3:45 p.m. Friday. As of 10:30 p.m., the river was down to 20.9 feet. ... This was also more than five feet above what it did at its maximum in 1916 and slightly above the apparent 26-foot crest in April 1791, noted the climate office."
More than 95 people have been killed, and the number is expected to rise.
Asheville's Great Flood of 1916 saw the French Broad River crest at around 17 feet above flood stage; about 23.1 feet. Approximately 80 people were killed.
Before the storm
The front of our Chocolate Factory & Cafe on Tuesday evening before the storm's arrival.
Inside the Factory
With water lapping at the front doors, our sandbagging efforts did seem to prevent some of the floodwaters from entering.
The Flood
Despite our best efforts, some water did eventually flow inside, destroying our cafe area, classroom, and retail space. Our chocolate-making equipment, miraculously, was spared.
As of October 24, things were still really hard. We haven't had potable water coming through the taps since the storm (and as of this writing on November 1). We are grateful for the brownish chlorinated water we do have - at least we are no longer carrying buckets of water into our homes and businesses to flush! Most (but not all) of us have power re-established. The wreckage is being pushed by earth moving equipment into giant piles, leaving dust and mud in place of the wreckage. Driving down Riverside Drive to get to our Chocolate Factory is sobering, an absolutely unrecognizable landscape. Your support buoys us, so thank you for being with us.
On October 23, we started making chocolate in our Chocolate Factory! We acquired a 3,000 gallon tank and are having potable water trucked in each week from South Carolina. Most of our production team is back and eager to continue with their craft. It has taken incredible persistence to come this far, and we are very, very behind production during our most important season. Be patient as we make and offer all that we are able to.