Within just a few hours, Big Horse Creek sent a 10-foot wall of water into the small mountain town of Lansing, destroying its row of quaint brick art shops, antique stores, and the cleverly named pizzeria Pie on the Mountain.
Hurricane Helene tore through Lansing's section of the popular Virginia Creeper Trail, leaving it strewn with mud, logs and a camper the size of a Winnebago upside down in the water.
All along Lansing's Main Street, shopkeepers took out soaking wet walls and floorboards that already smelled of mildew, and offered their canned goods and water bottles to any needy visitors.
“This area is devastated,” said fire department volunteer Jeff Pierce. “Something we haven't seen since the 1940s. You know Carter-Finley Stadium. Two of them, 12 meters high. That's how much water.”
As rescue crews cut trees from roads and removed branches and strips of sheet metal from bridges, the world at large began to see the extent of the ruins in the northwestern corner of North Carolina.
'Coffins floating in the river'
While repairing a broken gas line in Boone, Steve Calhoun recalled the worst thing he had seen in Ashe County since Friday.
“Coffins floating in the river,” he said. “People in the water and no one can get to them. Houses in the road. Cars in trees.”
The water has receded, but locals do not expect all electricity to be restored in the area for months to come. Roads to many remote areas, including west of Lansing, are too poor for crews to reach.
They worry about those who are still missing and lost in the chaos.
In Lansing, the Squirrel and Nut was toppled just four months after opening. Local and vintage art was sold, including pieces created by Lora Young, who was grilling donated food Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
“A lot of us don't have power,” she said, “so we're taking stuff out of our freezers. Need some food? We now have a chicken grill.”
Volunteers feed hundreds
At the fire department, volunteers barbecued 300 people, even though the population of the town, 53 miles northeast of Boone, is only 128.
Pierce led a prayer over the pig chute, offering thanks and asking for guidance.
“One thing you have to understand about mountain people,” he said. “We are resilient. We keep fighting.”
As he spoke, shopkeepers walked down Lansing's main street, shoveling mud.
Young smiled at them over her grill.
“You admitted it,” she said. “Once you get a chance to slow down, it will all sink in.”
