ASHEVILLE, N.C. — On the outskirts of Biltmore Village, an area about six minutes from downtown Asheville, the community was hit hard by Hurricane Helene.
The damage was severe, from debris in trees to buildings losing their structures to large amounts of mud in the streets.
One man, Lars Schatte, worked at Biltmore Village for six years. He said he would spend time with his family and eat at every restaurant. xxx also said his kids were used to playing in the village.
Schatte was not able to see the damage Helene caused in Biltmore, but once he did, it was hard to witness.
"I knew it was bad, but you always hope that it's not going to be that bad," Schatte said. "And this is just a fraction of what has happened to Western North Carolina. And that's, you know, it's of course impactful because this is the community. I've spent the last five and a half years in."
He is the general manager at Bruegger's Bagels. When Schatte came to check on the aftermath of Helene, he said his building was okay, but others in the area were not.
"I came through here before the storm started and saw everything boarded up and sandbagged up and, you know, everybody was, of course, hopeful that that was going to do the trick, but nobody expected this," he said.
Schatte reflected on the time his family spent in Biltmore Village and said how important his community is during this difficult time.
"About where you see the first responders parked in the road up there, where they're turning people around is where my business is that I've been running," Schatte said. "You know, raising two kids here in the mountains with my wife, we've gone to most of these restaurants together as a family. This community is so important to us."
In addition to the heavy rain and high winds, part of the damage is due to the thick mud that is taking the inside of a lot of the businesses in Biltmore Village, which is something Schatte was not expecting.
"I came through here before the storm started and saw everything boarded up and sandbagged up and, you know, everybody was, of course hopeful that that was going to do the trick, but nobody expected this," he said.
Regardless of the damage, he said it would be a while before Asheville is back to the way it was.
"To see a thriving community of businesses go from frustrated that you can't get into, I mean, it's just not the same," Schatte said. "And then you realize how many people have gotten impacted and what it's going to take to get Asheville back to what it was is. I mean, it's going to be a long time."