Haywood County will mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene this week with a series of commemorations beginning during the opening ceremonies of the annual Haywood County Fair.

The Colquitt Foundation has given $750,000 to the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies to save historic structures and help the national park’s Cataloochee Valley recover from damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Dam Safety Program, with help from Applied Weather Associates, is releasing the state’s first Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) study and evaluation tool, which is designed to better prepare for future storms and their possible impact on dams in the state. 

Haywood County is reminding local business owners that the county’s tourism development authority is conducting a survey to assess recovery progress, current needs and ongoing challenges in the wake of Hurricane Helene. 

The N.C. Department of Transportation and its partners have selected two sites in the Pigeon River Gorge for extracting and storing material to help rebuild sections of Interstate 40 damaged by Hurricane Helene.

In the seven months since Hurricane Helene ravaged the mountains and valleys of Western North Carolina, there’s been one constant thought rolling through the mind of Guy Smith. 

“In memorializing Helene’s savagery, the agony it caused, the grief and loss, but also the resilience and charity,” Smith said. “I’d like people to internalize that when things are the worst, people are the best.”

Nearly two dozen law enforcement professionals from across Western North Carolina stood behind Attorney General Jeff Jackson — literally and figuratively — at the Historic Haywood Courthouse April 14 to warn grifters who might be looking to take advantage of Hurricane Helene’s victims.

More than six months after Hurricane Helene dealt millions in damage to government infrastructure across the region, the Town of Waynesville reopened a newly repaired bridge — despite the complete absence of FEMA funding.

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is warning Western North Carolina residents of ongoing scams related to Hurricane Helene recovery.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Waste Management’s Underground Storage Tank Section (NCDEQ-DWM-UST), has launched the Bridge Loan Program to assist owners and operators with testing and repairing surface infrastructure for their petroleum underground storage tanks (USTs) affected by Hurricane Helene.