COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. — Cocke County was hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Several small businesses closed to fix the damage. Some have reopened while others have a little longer to go.
Kendale Ball owns the Simpl Cafe in Newport. Flood waters caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage to his building and equipment. Two months later, he's still not able to open back up but said there's a lot of progress being made.
"It's so weird. I feel like nothing has happened, but there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes. We've been able to do several events to do some fundraising. So we're that much closer to our opening goal," Ball said.
The goal is $60,000. He said insurance won't cover any of it. That's why he's relying on pop-ups at other small businesses and donations from the community to help the cafe recover.
"Being back in the community, it's been really nice to have people that reach out. It shows that there are actually still good people in the world," he said.
Twenty minutes down the road is Hartford. The businesses there rely on tourism. For Michelle Cuellar, owner of the Bean Trees Cafe and the Bean Sprout, they're missing it.
"My coffee shop can realistically open probably in a month. Although with I-40 being closed, I'm skeptical about the revenue it can generate," Cuellar said.
She's been making progress rebuilding the cafe but isn't able to hire a contractor, so she's relying on the community's support.
"This lovely family that came in yesterday from Knoxville. The plumbing and electrical are done. Right now, they're hanging walls. So, Thanksgiving has another meaning to me this year. I am so blessed and thankful for all of the people who have come out and supported us and even on Thanksgiving. When they're supposed to be with your family, they're here helping me," she said.
Both businesses have been active on social media sharing updates on their recovery status.
On Wednesday, Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis provided some reassurance that help would be on the way for small businesses that have been fighting through the recovery process.
Several businesses weren't eligible for FEMA funds and money from the U.S. Small Business Association had dried up after disaster loans were paused, so the county worked with Mountain Strong to form a committee that would help prioritize funds donated to the relief effort.
Mathis said Mountain Strong was able to award more than $200,000 this week to small businesses to help keep them afloat, and more funds will be coming in another round for farmers, homeowners and small businesses.
"Thank you for the way we’ve all pulled together. If you would have told me in two months we’d be where we are when that flooding was happening… I would have said that would take a miracle, and that’s exactly what we got," Mathis said.