If I had to pick what my biggest takeaway from Helene was, it’s not anything about climate change ignorance, the fickle nature of humanity, or how flagrantly it’s exposed economic divides. My biggest takeaway has nothing to do with people and isn’t exactly a new revelation. My biggest takeaway is that nature is god damn terrifying.
I vividly remember thinking this for the first time two weeks after the storm, when I returned to Turgua Brewing for the first time. I was ecstatic that it had survived the storm, as rumors were (true rumors, it turns out) that Cane Creek Road was hit hard, and Instagram told me that the brewery had indeed flooded. On the drive there, the first thing that jumped out was that Cane Creek looked…different. It was mainly in the same place it was, but…there was definitely some rerouting going on as well, and truly…I wish I had better words, but the fact that we’re witnessing rivers casually reroute themselves in real time is nothing short of terrifying.
It’s also terrifying to realize that the Turgua taproom was flooded when you get there and realize just how far Cane Creek is from the building. It’s probably something I should’ve thought about since it’s somewhere I frequent, but sometimes you need an in-person reminder. I often went to Turgua Brewing (pre-Helene) to wade in the very tranquil—ANKLE DEEP—Cane Creek that runs along its back property border. The usual ankle deep water somehow rose high enough to inundate the taproom over 500 yards away and completely shift how the riverbank looks.
I recently thought about how terrifying nature was on two separate occasions. The first was when I took a hike up to Lunch Rock for the first time since the storm. The parkway pulloff from where I’d normally park is still closed, so I parked at the Visitor’s Center and made this a longer hike. There are several portions of the Mountains to Sea Trail where every single tree (and these are large, large trees) is either snapped are lying sideways. It’s terrifying to think how strong the wind would be to do this.
Similarly, I recently went with some friends to Happy Hens & Highlands Farm outside Burnsville to frolic with some Highland Cows and passed a riverbank where every single tree on a very large, steep riverbank was now horizontal. I wish I had a photograph because it was terrifyingly impressive, but alas, I was driving.
And recently, I was reminded again of the terrifying power of nature when a friend sent me this very depressing Facebook post about the destruction of the Geneva Hotel in Chimney Rock, somewhere we ventured at least once a summer for their brand of raucous karaoke and tiki bar madness. We’d actually driven up to The Geneva after visiting a friend’s Lake Lure wine bar for brunch back in December and were floored to find that the Geneva was now essentially riverfront property. The land where the tiki bar we frequented wasn’t even there anymore. It was a new branch of the Rocky Broad River.. I know this is probably getting repetitive, but…nature really is a scary beast.
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