“The destruction is just the first chapter, but the real story is the way people have responded,” Josh Copus, owner of Old Marshall Jail Hotel and Zadie’s said. Marshall, a small town just north of Asheville, was one of the worst affected by the flooding on Sep. 27. Hurricane Helene replaced the Great Flood of 1916 as the worst storm in Marshall’s recorded history, with the French Broad River cresting at 24 feet compared to 23.1 feet in 1916. The damage to the town’s infrastructure was catastrophic.