Standing next to Spring Creek in the tiny mountain town of Hot Springs, it’s hard to imagine a flood. The mountain creek is only a few inches deep, and many of the scars of Helene have faded from its banks.
But in September 2024, Spring Creek carried massive amounts of water through downtown Hot Springs, about an hour north of Asheville near the Tennessee line. One of the hardest-hit businesses was the resort and spa known for its mineral baths that have drawn visitors for 200 years — an attraction that gave the town its name.
“We lost three-quarters of our mineral baths, two-thirds of our lodging, our entire hot water system,” General Manager Heather Hicks said. “It was epic, absolutely epic.”
The resort has been able to rebuild some of the cabanas and hot tubs where visitors bathe in the 102-degree natural spring water overlooking Spring Creek. But it’s been a slow process, and the resort currently has seven rooms of lodging where it once had 27.
“That's a big shift and it's a big shift for town economically,” Hicks said. “This is a town of less than 600 people. Prior to the storm, we brought in 70,000 people a year to Hot Springs to visit the waters, so we feel an incredible onus to the town itself. Our recovery is tied to the town's recovery. We are all in this together.”
Asked if the resort has gotten any support from the state or federal government as it rebuilds, Hicks replied “absolutely not. There has been none of that. But what we do have is an incredibly strong community and incredibly dedicated staff and a brigade of volunteers who showed up to help.
“That's what has rebuilt us. There has been no insurance money, there has been no government money. There's been a lot of heart and dedication.”
It’s a similar story when you talk to other business owners and local leaders in Hot Springs. State and federal money has been slow to arrive, but locals have been able to get things up and running with donations and volunteer labor.
Artisun Gallery and Café reopened in its original downtown space in December after operating from a temporary space for more than a year.
Philip and Pascha Solomon own the shop that sells arts and crafts from local vendors as well as coffee and pastries.
“It was a grueling effort for the building owners to get here,” Pascha Solomon said. “They had to go through a lot, and so there was that uncertainty that was like, ‘is that even going to be possible?’ And just through their perseverance and dedication, we're able to be here today.”
The reconstruction was a slow process because the floodwaters collapsed the floor inside the historic building. For the new Artisun, the Solomons got a local artist to build a replacement counter using materials from the elementary school gym floor, where donations poured in after the storm.
“The reason that they had to redo the floor at the elementary school was because of all the donations that came in were so heavy on that floor, and there were some leaks of water and chemicals, and so that floor had to be taken out and redone,” Philip Solomon said.
“And so kids will come in here and say, ‘hey, that's the gym floor.’ And one kid said, ‘I've got blood on that floor,’ and the other kids said, ‘we've all got blood.’”
Everyone in Hot Springs seems to have put their blood, sweat and tears into the recovery process. Many of them have volunteered through the nonprofit Rebuild Hot Springs, which has spearheaded the efforts to rebuild homes, businesses and infrastructure.
WUNC News met up with Rebuild Hot Springs board president TJ Phillips to hear more about what’s been accomplished, and what’s still needed to get back to normal.
NOTE: This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
In the first 14 months or so, what have been the big milestones of successes that Rebuild Hot Springs has been able to be involved in so far?
“We’re hoping to hit $2 million by the end of (2025) that we've raised for the community. We've done a lot for the volunteer fire department, in terms of repairing some of the trucks immediately after the storm. We've done over $700,000 in relief for the businesses that were damaged. With the residential home damage, I think it's probably somewhere around $600,000 or $700,000 that we've done for that group.”
What do you see as the next steps as far as big picture needs?
“The big push right now is like, how do we bring people back to town? The businesses, most of them are reopened at this point. But people need to be here. Particularly this summer and fall, we're a far cry from what it normally looks like here.”
How many of the folks who are here pre-storm have been able to move back in?
“We're down to about 14 homes that we're still trying to help with. I think it was close to 40 when we started immediately after the flood.”
Madison County seeks faster funding
Hot Springs wasn’t the only community in Madison County that was hard hit during Helene. The county seat of Marshall was also flooded by the French Broad River, including the historic courthouse. Like Hot Springs, many of the downtown businesses in Marshall have reopened, but plenty of storefronts remain a work in progress, and government facilities are still in temporary spaces.
To get a better sense for where the recovery process stands across Madison County, WUNC News spoke with County Manager Rod Honeycutt.
What are some of the biggest milestones you've seen so far in Madison County in getting things back to normal?
"We lost our courthouse, so we are now in a temporary facility, thanks to FEMA and our federal government, about a $4 million facility that FEMA has funded. To get back into normal operations, even in a temporary facility, is a good thing. We were operating out of a gym. We've seen parks come back. But still, the infrastructure remains the number-one concern for the county and our municipalities. We lost a courthouse, two town halls, two wastewater treatment plants and a post office. The only thing that's come back so far in any type of permanency is that courthouse. Everybody else is still operating out of makeshift."
What sort of additional help do you need from the state or federal levels, or is it just speeding things up?
"If we could give $50 million to the 17 counties that were hurt … we could have been much further down the road with direct disbursement. The slow disbursement going from the federal level to the state, and the state breaks it down into departments, and then you have to go through the application process – streamlining that process has got to happen."
How are you looking in terms of overall rebuilding for homes, businesses and other types of facilities that have been damaged in the storm?
“Business-wise, we're better than halfway now. Fifty-ish businesses in downtown Marshall have started to come back online. The post office is our number-one federal concern right now. Our neighbors who live in Madison County and Marshall specifically have to drive about 14 miles to go to a post office because we don't have one.
“There's some families that have chosen not to rebuild in Madison County, and we've got some families who are waiting on the state. We have 17 homes that are in the hazard mitigation grant program that we're waiting on the state to make a decision to buy those back. That has stalled.”
Three things to do in Hot Springs
Hot Springs Resort and Spa: Visitors can rent a cabana overlooking Spring Creek and soak in the 102-degree mineral spring water, thought to have healing effects. Cabin rentals and a campground are also available.
Lover’s Leap: Hike a section of the Appalachian Trail (which runs through the center of Hot Springs) up to a mountaintop view overlooking the town.
Vinyl Pies Pizza: The popular restaurant serves wood-fired pizzas with creative toppings and names inspired by song titles, like “Buffalo Soldier” and “Baby Got Back.”
