Nonprofit volunteers are committed to rebuilding Chimney Rock and other communities devastated by the powerful storm in September 2024.
CHIMNEY ROCK, N.C.—North Carolina officials estimate that it will take many years, many hands, and up to $60 billion to recover from the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in late September 2024.
In the historic village of Chimney Rock, located in the western part of the state, a dedicated army of volunteers has been providing much-needed assistance to the recovery effort at no cost.
“It hasn’t required much funding,” Shane Zoccole, founder and director of the South Carolina-based disaster relief nonprofit Spokes of Hope, said.
Zoccole told The Epoch Times that the recovery effort in Chimney Rock is primarily driven by volunteers.
“Chimney Rock is essential to the valley—it’s the commerce of this area,“ he said. ”We felt led to help the businesses, to help the people here, and to get this town to stay on the map instead of going off the map.”
Since October 2024, Zoccole has led more than 2,000 volunteers from various nonprofits willing to help without compensation.
Among the volunteers are hundreds of Amish and Mennonite people from Ohio and Pennsylvania who are ready to go the distance, he said.
“We eat breakfast by 8 a.m., work orders go out, we’re working by 8:30, and then we work until just about 6 p.m., when dinner is served,” Zoccole said.
“It’s been all the moving parts connecting with local business owners and volunteers across the nation.”
He said it has been a collaborative effort since the hurricane made a lasting impact on the landscape eight months ago.
Zoccole founded Spokes of Hope in 2018 after Hurricane Florence caused nine deaths and resulted in $2 billion in damages across South Carolina.
However, that was dwarfed by the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, he said.
Much of Chimney Rock, a village in western North Carolina’s Hickory Nut Gorge on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was either damaged, destroyed, or buried under several feet of mud.
By Allan Stein
