After a year of work to clear Helene’s destruction, Lake Lure filling back up

LAKE LURE, N.C. — After working for a year to clear mountains of debris and sediment dumped in Lake Lure by Helene, the Army Corps of Engineers crews have packed up, and the lake is slowly starting to fill back up.

Flooding from Helene sent tons of debris down the Broad River and into the mountain reservoir southeast of Asheville. 

“I just think people are finally starting to breathe a sigh of relief,” Lake Lure Mayor Carol Pritchett said.

Pritchett said when Helene first hit, the once peaceful lake was unrecognizable with so much debris. It took the Army Corps of Engineers a year to clean it all from the lake. 

Now, the town has moved on to the next phase, refilling the popular lake. 

“If you look at the lake, the water’s not all the way up,” Pritchett said. “But the lake is ready to receive the water. We don’t have a marina, but we can see them building it out there. So everything is just moved to a whole different category.”

Pritchett said the lake is much more than just a pretty view, especially for business owners. 

“This is critical for us. It truly is critical,” she said. “That is the whole basis of our economy here. So, you know, as I said, I don’t think a lot of people could have made it just hanging on there again.”

With the lake set to reopen hopefully by May, Pritchett said everyone in town is feeling the excitement.

“Everybody was so patient, and they had so much resilience,” the mayor said. “To finally know we are going to be able to make it so it puts everybody in a different place, and people are just more relaxed.”

As for Pritchett, she said she can’t wait for the lake to be full with water, and people enjoying it, once again.

“Just to be able to look out and see the serenity of it. And you’re away from the hustle and bustle and everything else. It’s just a wonderful place to be.”

The mayor said that while they have been able to get some things fixed in the town since the storm, the Town of Lake Lure is still a far way away from full recovery. 

Still, they are hoping to have rowing teams back on the lake at the beginning of march for practice. Their goal is to have the full lake open to the public by Memorial Day Weekend.