Driving into town from the west on winding US 64, signs appear in Chimney Rock Village that read “Raise the Rock,” then, around the bend when the road reaches Lake Lure, the lake is full for the first time since Tropical Storm Helene, nearly two years ago. Businesses have signs inviting visitors in and families sprawl out across the beach and boats sit in the water, though the original marina remains under repair.
Helene’s mark is still imprinted on the Hickory Nut Gorge, the 14-mile-long canyon across the Blue Ridge Mountains that encompasses the communities of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock in western Rutherford County and Bat Cave and Gerton in northeastern Henderson County. Communities in the gorge were devastated by the September 2024 storm.
Lake Lure, with a population estimated at just below 1,400, is the largest incorporated municipality in the area. Many of the surrounding communities relied on the town’s governmental resources after the flood…