‘Chimney Rock will be back:’ North Carolina city rebuilds after devastation from Hurricane Helene

CHIMNEY ROCK, Nc. — It’s gone, without a trace. All that remains are the rocks.

The shop was named Coffee on the Rocks, owned by Bruce Godzik and his wife for 15 years. Their home next door is gone too.

“Watched the whole house collapse, and the business went in right after,” Godzik said.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Godzik had walked to the fire department up the hill as the Broad River exploded through the valley, and then he went to get his wife. Twenty minutes later, the house, the coffee shop, the T-shirt shop, and the brewery were all gone.

“It was just horrific. We saw all our friends’ businesses slowly peel away and go down the river,” Godzik said to Channel 2′s Bryan Mims. “We were hoping the river would stop, but it was relentless.”

His cat Josie, adored by customers, was also gone.

“Just didn’t have time to get her,” he said. “She went down with the house. It’s heartbreaking.”

The tsunami-like river gouged out the town’s Main Street and a parking lot, rolling massive boulders like marbles.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Shots fired near Douglas County High School while pep rally happening inside
• Customer shot to death in front of Gwinnett gas station, officers search for shooter
• North Fulton Hospital nurse accused of elder abuse, stealing from patients

“It was crazy,” said Teresa Cauthren, who owns the Chimney Rock Inn, which escaped damage. Their house sits along the river, and the river spared it.

Soldiers from the 82nd and the 101st Airborne are in town to help with the grueling recovery.

For two weeks now, Cauthren and her neighbors have worked together, cleaning, fixing and encouraging. Look beyond the mad maze of boulders and ragged storefronts, and the beauty of this place is plain to see.

Godzik plans to stay, to rebuild and his neighbors do too.

“We will be back 100 percent, 100 percent stronger,” Cauthren said. “We will be back. Chimney Rock will be back.”

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

North Georgia shelters take in pets from Helene, preparing for more from Milton

©2024 Cox Media Group