Part of the Virginia Creeper Trail that remains closed a year after Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
As the first fall leaves drifted to the ground in Damascus Town Park on a recent warm September day, Mayor Katie Lamb spoke to an audience just off the Virginia Creeper Trail trailhead. One year ago, Laurel Creek began to rise and quickly flooded downtown — washing away homes and battering businesses.
“Helene came in with a vengeance, and she may have damaged and destroyed our structures, but she did not shatter our Appalachian mountain virtues or our love for our town,” Lamb said.
Picture of Damascus, VA during flooding from Hurricane Helene. (Photo courtesy the City of Damascus)
Reportedly, 140 structures in Damascus were damaged or destroyed – bringing an estimated $12 million in damages to residential properties, businesses and public facilities. The state endured an estimated $4 billion in damage and hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of debris were strewn across the region. Three people in Virginia died as a result of the storm, as well as over 250 people in other states.
In Damascus, home to 747 residents, the floodwaters washed out bridges and trestles, sending debris slamming into each bridge until it gave way and the surging currents flowed down to the next. The Laurel Creek water gauge read 18 feet before it was washed away.
As the mayor spoke 12 months after the devastating storm, crews could be heard jackhammering away the former bridge on Orchard Hill Road. The washed out bridge still rests on the banks, evidence of the sheer force of the flood waters that came through.
Portion of the Virginia Creeper Trail that remains closed due to damage one year after Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
While people were rushing to save their homes and lives, the livelihood of many in the region was being washed away farther east.
Multiple popular hiking and biking trails, such as the Appalachian Trail, converge near Damascus. Many of the town businesses are catered to visitors who wish to bike the 34-mile gravel trail that stretches from Abingdon to White Top along old train routes. The most popular portion is from White Top to Damascus, as it is mostly downhill and shaded in trees. Helene’s flooding almost wiped that portion off the map completely.
Virginia Creeper Trail sign leading into Damascus on the portion that was not destroyed by Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
“We lost so much the day that the trail flooded. October’s always the busiest month, and that’s how we get through the winter by having a huge October,” said Michael Wright, owner of Adventure Damascus Bicycles and another business.
Developers are currently bidding on rebuilding the 17-mile portion of the trail that was most frequented by bikers of all ages. There is a tentative timeline of it reopening by October 2026. The project is estimated to cost $200-300 million.
Seated in the office of one of his stores, Wright said business is down about 75% for his bicycle rental and shuttle storefront. His employees took calls in the background, explaining to customers that the popular part of the trail is going to be closed for at least another year. Hundreds of bikes are lined up in the back of the building, waiting to be taken out.
Wright’s other business, which outfits Appalachian Trail hikers, is down about 30% this year despite the trail being fully open. About 400 miles of the trail was closed across multiple states immediately after the storm.
Bikes lined up in Adventure Damascus Bicycles. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
He had never seen flooding like that in all his years living in the area. In all his years living in the area, Wright said he’s never seen flooding like Helene’s. His bicycle rental store along Laurel Creek had multiple inches of water in it. He had to lay off most of his employees in the wake of the storm, but has been able to hire back some of them, mostly part-time workers.
“So, you know, everything’s just gone, in an instant. We didn’t know what to do, where to go, but we just started cleaning up,” Wright said.
Two homes just across the trail that runs alongside his store were washed away in the flood and have already been replaced. When Wright posted on Facebook that the bike shop doors were open again months after the flood, a couple that had been coming to Damascus for years drove all the way from Alabama to give them business and support them through tough times.
“I’ve been doing this for almost 30 years, but over the years, people come to town and they love coming to town. I love the place so much,” Wright said. “I didn’t realize as many people had the same feeling that I did. But it makes perfect sense. That’s why they keep coming back.”
The town has been working hard to leverage other activities and the second half of the Creeper Trail to show visitors that they are still open for business.
“We’re nervous about this winter for sure. We have a lot of hope now that the trail will be open next year,” Wright said.
Down the main drag of town, Blue Blaze is another bike rental shop that has had to adjust to operating with only a portion of the Creeper Trail open. Owner Rich DeArmond, at his front desk that still bears the water marks of Helene’s flooding, explained that he has invested in more e-bikes to help people bike the Damascus to Abingdon portion of the trail, which is not as downhill and more of a challenge for some riders. He describes this shift as a new beginning.
Rick DeArmond, owner of Blue Blaze, in Damascus, Va., talks about Hurricane Helene impacts with a visible water line on his front desk. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
The town parks and recreation department has been emphasizing other draws to town such as trout fishing, hiking trails, and the overall peacefulness of the small community nestled in the middle of the mountains. Most of the businesses that were flooded are back open and looking for visitors to come in the door.
“We could either sit around and be sad, or we could do something about it, and so we decided to do everything we could to bring Damascus back,” Julie Kroll, the town recreation director, said.
Right next to where the bridge over Laurel Creek was washed out, Jennifer Walker had owned a rental home for six years. At the time of the storm she had tenants staying there who, fortunately, evacuated in time as the water quickly rose and eventually destroyed the house.
Walker and her family live just across the North Carolina border, a state that was lashed most severely by Helene. Their home was hit with a powerful mudslide that knocked part of the house off the foundation and ripped portions off to be carried away. They did not live in a floodplain and did not have flood insurance so they’ve had to rely on a small award from FEMA and slowly put what they can back into its reconstruction.
“In the back of our heads, we’re like, this is horrible, but we have our Damascus house. So we have a place to go … we went up to the top of our mountain, tried 81 times to make a phone call, and I got one call through to my mom. And at the same time, a video came through from the renters, and they said, ‘we’re sorry, it’s bad’,” Walker said.
While the home that held many memories of wintering in Damascus for them, Walker is eager for her new venture to come to life. In the spirit of the Creeper Trail, she has purchased two train cabooses that will be made into a hotel. She hopes it will be a fun experience for people who come through to ride the trail that passes right next to the property.
“You know, it’s just one of those things where you’re like, I’m glad that this town has bounced back. It’s cool. I mean, it’s just, and I’m not saying that because I have a place here, but it is a really special little town,” Walker said.
Washington County residents were awarded $2.4 million in individual assistance from FEMA; $2.1 million of that was distributed in Damascus. The nonprofit Trails to Recovery has raised $1.7 million in private donations and aided in repairing 83 homes and doing complete rebuilds of eight houses for county residents since the storm.
In April, Gov. Glenn Youngkin accelerated unlocking funds from the $46,670,000 allocated to Virginia by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through disaster recovery grants. A number of disaster loans were made available to southwest Virginians who were in need of assistance to build back their homes and businesses.
With the construction of the trail set to begin in the coming months, there are efforts to have workers stay in town and utilize local businesses for transportation to work sites. Wright said there is a possibility of his shuttle being used – which would help them survive the winter financially. The Old Mill Inn operators said they hope to have some workers stay there.
The shoreline outside the Old Mill Inn in Damascus, VA shows heavy erosion from Hurricane Helene flooding. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
Lamb became emotional during a tour of local businesses, explaining how hard they’ve worked to bounce back. She said they’ll never know the names of all the volunteers who flocked to the town to help people muck out their homes and rebuild structures. Damascus is hosting an event on Sept. 27, the day the waters rose, to show appreciation for those who helped them.
The town of Damascus has a population of less than 1,000. But during certain events that all revolve around the trails in the area, thousands of people gather there. When walking downtown now, it could be hard for out of towners to know what devastation was wrought there only a year ago. There are signs of it in the water lines on wood, the erosion of the water fronts, and the ongoing construction. But the spirit of Damascus has not diminished and residents are still welcoming visitors, whom they say are a lifeline of their community’s economy.
“We’re going to be better than we’ve ever been because we have each other, and we are damn strong,” Lamb said.
Damascus, VA leaders cut the ribbon for the new Creeper Trail trailhead a year after Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
Another report on the rebuilding of Southwest Virginia post-Helene will be published Tuesday, Sept. 23.