BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — Brock Robertson lives in Blowing Rock and works at his family’s business, The Last Straw. The business is a popular destination for visitors to the town, and the town itself is a hotspot for the fall tourist season as people flock to the area to check out the fall foliage.
Robertson said while he is happy his home and much of the town were able to escape serious damage from Hurricane Helene, he knows that the town is still suffering, financially.
"If you've ever been to Blowing Rock in October, you know that there's no parking spots, there's lines at restaurants, there's lines out our store," Robertson said. "Right now it's pretty much a ghost town.”
Downtown Blowing Rock lost some power when Helene hit in late September, but it did not experience the massive flooding or wind damage that so many other cities and towns did.
Merchants in Blowing Rock told WCNC Charlotte that October is by far the biggest month for the local economy, but many of the people who would be in Blowing Rock have stayed away from the area. For some, that's because of not knowing how much damage was caused by Helene, while others are choosing to stay away until the entire western North Carolina area recovers.
Down the road, many small businesses in Boone are dealing with flood damage. However, as cleanup is underway, a restaurant owner said her biggest concern is the lack of foot traffic. Owner of Betty's Biscuits, Tina Houston, said October is Boone's busiest month. She worries that without tourism, some businesses won't make it through the winter.
Blowing Rock resident Caleb Thorpe said he knows how painful the lack of foot traffic is for his hometown, and he knows that it will adversely affect businesses, but he said at least the town only has to wait for visitors to return instead of having to rebuild.
“You know, obviously we've kind of had that survivor's guilt where we're untouched," Thorpe said. "But there's other people that have completely lost their entire lives in homes and it's going to affect them for years and years.”
Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.