Outside of Asheville, Boone is one of the largest population centers in Western North Carolina. It’s a major tourist destination and educational hub. Folks in Boone and around Watauga County are pulling together to assess and mitigate the damage caused by landslides and extreme flooding in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene.
Appalachian State University, commonly known as App State, is the heart of Boone. Campus is largely evacuated and classes are suspended for the time being. Boone Creek, which runs through campus, caused extensive flooding on campus during the storm. Classrooms and major campus buildings sustained serious damage.
Sinkholes, collapsed roads, and damaged homes are among the chief concerns in the city itself. There are at least two mobile home parks that were largely destroyed. Taking care of the county’s homeless population — which was substantial before and has now expanded — is a major focus of relief efforts.
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The western part of the county is more remote, and many in Boone have expressed concern for those who help has not yet reached. Two fatalities have been confirmed in Watauga County as a result of landslides caused by Tropical Storm Helene.
How things look one week out in Boone
“Boone got hit hard on the first day,” Moss Brennan, editor of the Watauga Democrat and member of the Watauga Rescue Squad, told CPP.
“Once the rain stopped though, the water receded pretty quick. The western part of our county, as well as Ashe and Avery counties, got hit really hard. These more rural areas have massive trees down, and low-lying areas where there’s just destruction.
“There are houses that look like bombs have been dropped on them. They’re completely gone. Destroyed. In Boone itself, there are roads that have collapsed. All the tourism officials are saying, ‘Don’t come to Boone just because it looks OK. That doesn’t mean it is.’ The more people who are in Boone, the harder it is going to be for emergency officials to help people on the western side of the county.”
A sinkhole opened up under the historic Legends Building in downtown Boone, which served as a student nightclub until fall 2023, when it was deemed unsafe due to structural issues. Officials have since filled the hole with gravel.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has said the November election will proceed in Watauga County. State officials are evaluating the condition of voting sites and voting hardware like laptops and tabulators. They have reestablished a secure connection to the state information system despite wide internet and cell phone outages, allowing them to process registrations and requests for absentee ballots.
Appalachian State
With an undergraduate enrollment of more than 21,000, App State has a bigger population than Boone itself. The main part of campus is in a low-lying, valley area, and was badly damaged by floodwaters from Helene. Residence halls appear to have sustained little damage, while classrooms and campus roads bore the brunt of it.
“We have professors and students who are homeless,” App State professor Lynette Holman told CPP. “Logistically, it’s going to be a nightmare to figure out what to do to have everybody finish the semester.”
The university is closed at least through Oct. 16, and professors suspect that some of those classes will only continue virtually.
Most students left for home in the days following the storm. Bringing back students fully in person would be an enormous strain on the town’s stretched resources, Holman said.
App State’s dining hall has remained open and is feeding the community at no charge. The Red Cross has turned the convocation center into a pet-friendly emergency shelter. According to a student at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute’s branch in Boone, the Red Cross had so many volunteers earlier in the week that they had to start turning new volunteers away.
“In the last few days, amidst terrible devastation, we have seen tremendous acts of kindness and humanity,” App State Interim Chancellor Heather Norris said in a press briefing on Tuesday. “This has been a disaster of monumental proportions … Some have lost everything.”
According to ElectriCities, a member organization of public power communities, power has been restored to over 99% of App State’s New River Light and Power service area.
Homelessness in Boone
Western NC already has one of the highest rates of unsheltered, homeless families in rural America. Now, more than 140 housing units have been condemned in Boone due to Tropical Storm Helene.
“The housing issue was already a disaster anyway,” Holman said. “It is so difficult and rents are so expensive, and this area has a pretty high poverty rate.”
Figuring out how to keep Western North Carolina’s homeless population safe in the devastation of Helene is the work of organizations like Hospitality House, a housing agency and service provider for homeless individuals and families across seven counties in North Carolina’s high country. The organization’s headquarters is in Boone.
“We’re sending our outreach staff out into displaced households and neighborhoods to deliver food, and our medical providers have been driving with them,” Hospitality House development director Todd Carter told CPP.
“We’re feeding people around the clock. We have a food pantry that’s open seven days a week. We’re giving out care boxes and food boxes to any and everyone who shows up.
“Once the Red Cross is gone, once Samaritan’s Purse is gone, once the outside relief organizations have left, we’re still going to be here. We are in it for the long haul.”
Carter says it is impossible to know yet how many individuals will become homeless in the wake of Helene.
Ongoing challenges
Some people in remote parts of the county have not yet been reached by emergency crews. Teams began traveling Wednesday on horseback to aid with recovery in areas they have not been able to access so far.
“This storm exceeded all forecasts,” Watauga County emergency services director Will Holt said in a Tuesday press briefing on the county’s recovery steps. “Conditions combined to bring the worst natural disaster in modern history to our county.
“Mountains simply gave way under the weight of wind and rain. Mother nature took back her mountains, leaving scars where roads and homes once stood. We deeply grieve the loss of life and livelihood, not just in Watauga County, but throughout the High Country as our neighbors in Ashe and Avery County, southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee come to grips with what is now our new normal for the foreseeable future.”
Watauga County emergency services typically takes around 3,000 calls a month. On the first day of storm conditions, 911 took more than 2,000 calls. Brennan says he’s personally been on 11 swift water rescues involving people and animals.
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