WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA — Driving up Highway 70 toward Asheville, the morning light illuminated a ravaged shoulder of road and a pile of concrete rubble just before a bridge. A mechanic’s shop with blue, red and yellow stripes stood with its roof still in tatters, mud caking the floor.

It all rushed back that this was the scene I had encountered countless times on social media and in the news last year. This was one of the epicenters of destruction from Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, N.C., where the waters rushed through, taking lives and buildings with it.

Now, more than ever, Western North Carolina needs a fall full of visitors. My girlfriend and I were recently two of them. We knew well and good it was around the anniversary of Helene. What we weren’t prepared for is what the area woul

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