FAIRVIEW, N.C. (WLOS) — When Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, it didn’t just damage homes and businesses. In many mountain communities, private roads, culverts and driveways were wiped out, leaving families isolated from work, school and even emergency services.
Chris McPherson remembers watching the creek behind his Fairview home rise and undercut the bank.
I told my wife, ‘We ain’t going to have a bridge here in a minute,’” McPherson said. “About an hour later, it took out about a quarter acre of my land behind my bridge. We just watched tree stumps, logs, everything, go right by our house, and then we were trapped across the creek.”
McPherson said he and his wife bought the property 35 years ago, starting in a mobile home and improving it little by little…