Tiny western NC town of Hot Springs bands together to rebuild after Helene flooding

HOT SPRINGS, N.C. (WTVD) — The push to rebuild a year after Hurricane Helene continues to be a top priority in the town of Hot Springs.

It’s a place that’s used to tourism — and sales, but residents are picking up the pieces in hopes of becoming better than they were before the storm.

During the fall, Hot Springs was a popular spot for people visiting the mountains. But in the days and weeks after Helene, the small Madison County town was cut off after bridges in and out of the town flooded.

Now, they want to welcome people back. But it’s still a tough road for those who lost homes and are trying to rebuild.

‘My bed was … just floating’

“There’s the water line, you can see,” said Tara Nix, pointing to her bedroom wall.

Looking back now, Nix is amazed she made it out alive.

“My bed was over here just floating,” she said.

She remembers that September morning, when it all happened in minutes.

“I was standing on the porch, and I could hear trees cracking and breaking and hitting the creek, and it was like once it started, it just didn’t stop,” Nix said.

As the waters from the creek by her house rose, she said she never thought it would get across the bank.

“But when it did, I knew. It was time,” she recalled.

A harrowing escape from floodwaters

She made her escape. Nix showed ABC11 a video from her niece as they made it out with moments to spare — the water steadily catching up to her car.

“She looks in her rearview mirror, and you can barely see my headlights. It was scary,” Nix said.

They were among the last people to make it out before Hot Springs’ bridges overran, trapping them between the creek and river.

Nix has had to live with family, and she is helping her mom get back into her home, which was also hit.

But it’s been a long road.

“We see progress being made, it’s just I guess not as fast as we would like it,” Nix said.

She said the initial wave of people helping from outside has faded. But locally, groups such as Rebuild Hot Springs have been making a difference.

Everybody has been really great,” Nix said. “All the volunteers, you wouldn’t believe the mud that was around here, under the porches and stuff. They’ve done an amazing job.”

But as seasons change and time goes on, “people just kind of forget, I just ask that they don’t forget,” she added. I love this town, I love this county. It’s home.”

Business takes a beating

Others also say there’s something special when you cross the bridge over the French Broad River into Hot Springs.

“Our goal when we came to Hot Springs was to live here for the rest of our lives … we had to do something because if not, we would probably have to leave Hot Springs, and that was not an option,” said Tim Arnett, who owns Spring Creek Tavern.

Tim and Amanda Arnett opened Spring Creek Tavern more than 10 years ago. It’s become a popular spot for people to enjoy the food, drinks, and mountain views by the creek.

They still remember the day Helene hit – and having to escape.

“He came in, flipped off the gas, flipped off the power, and we got out, and it wasn’t long before water was really coming over the bridge,” Amanda Arnett recalled.

They were among the last people allowed out over the bridge before the roads in and out of Hot Springs were shut down.

Days later, they saw what was left.

“We had a full-sized covered deck that got torn off the building, which is also part of what helped these doors to break away, which is really what saved the dining room,” Tim Arnett said. “The water was basically to the top of the bar, and these doors breached.”

From an idea sprang a solution

Like many in town, stuck and not knowing what to do, some residents came together with an idea.

“Well, really, it started the very next morning,” said Kevin Reese, of Rebuild Hot Springs. “We were just shell-shocked with what was going on. We were trapped here in town. We didn’t know exactly what to do. So, we all met at Sarah Joe’s gas station at 11 on Saturday morning. And that’s where we started formulating a plan.”

That plan was a nonprofit: Rebuild Hot Springs. They raised their own money to help people’s homes and businesses, even when they were left waiting for other funds.

It was critical for us to have our own organization,” Reese said. “We’ve seen federal funding come in very little, and insurance money is almost nonexistent. But as just this grassroots organization, we’ve been able to get over $1 million private donations that we then took and were able to distribute back into the community directly

So far, they’ve been able to help 16 of the 30 homeowners on their list and help revitalize businesses.

And though there is still a long to-do list — a new town hall, and getting more people back on their feet — they’re making progress.

“It was wonderful, it’s like everybody’s skill they had was able to be utilized, whether it was people that were good at website building, people that were good at contracting services, there were people in neighboring communities that like hauled water into town because we didn’t have running water,” said Sena Kassim, finance officer for the Town of Hot Springs.

While most of the donations were local, a lot came from people out of town who loved visiting Hot Springs.

Preparing to reopen

The town is preparing to welcome them back.

“But our ultimate goal is to be open before the one-year anniversary. I just do not want to be closed a full year,” Tim Arnett said.

They’re working on last-minute permits and finishing up the space. The Arnetts said it will all be worth it.

It’s going to be kind of surreal seeing this place open again and feeling alive,” Tim Arnett said.

And they hope more people will visit western North Carolina. And if you do, there’s a seat at the tavern waiting for you.

“I will say that first couple of days, it’s going to be a lot of tears,” Amanda Arnett said.

Her husband added: “Lot of tears, lots of hugs.”

MORE COVERAGE OF HELENE: ONE YEAR AFTER

Family ‘forever changed’ after losing 11 loved ones to Hurricane Helene in Craigtown

Husband shares story of wife still missing after swept away during Helene in WNC

Wife still grieves loss of husband, firefighter killed during Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene destroyed everything they owned; year later, they still wait to rebuild