MARSHALL, NC — Snow flurries blew into the mountains of western North Carolina Thursday, drifting across communities digging out from Hurricane Helene.
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Marshall, a small town about 45 minutes north of Asheville, saw snowflakes as people gathered for fresh brew at a coffee truck.
During Helene, the French Broad River swept across Main Street and flooded every business, including Zuma Coffee and Provisions. The raging water drained away everything inside the shop.
“The countertops, tables, chairs, all gone,” said owner Joel Friedman.
He opened the coffee shop 23 years ago and shuddered at the prospect of starting over.
“My first thought was no, absolutely not,” he said. “I had spent 23 years building this up and giving it everything I had, and the thought of doing it again was absolutely daunting,” Friedman told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims.
But he does plan to build back, and a few weeks ago he set up a coffee truck along Main Street.
“I knew exactly what I had to do, and that was to get Zuma going again,” Friedman said. “It’s kind of been the heartbeat of the community.”
The coffee was especially comforting as the area came under a winter weather advisory Thursday afternoon.
“It’s a little bit of a normal day now, in the midst of nothing being normal,” he said.
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The truck is open Monday through Saturday. Among those lining up for coffee was Mike Stoveken, who spent three days driving a fifth-wheel camper from the Colorado Rockies. His friends did not need the travel trailer, so they decided to donate it to storm victims in North Carolina.
“I decided, I told my friends, I’m gonna do something that makes me happy,” Stoveken said. “And part of that was when I got involved with this. It makes my heart happy to help these people.”
The camper came fully loaded with bulging bags of coats and blankets to provide for locals. The fifth wheel was destined for 52-year-old Eric George, who lost his job as a cook at the Marshall Main Street Café, which had to shut down because of extensive flood damage. Right now, George and his fiancé are living in a 1987 RV, where he said hardly anything works.
“At least I have a roof, and I do have heat,” George said. “If it gets cold, I have plenty of blankets.”
But the fifth wheel could not make it up the narrow, twisting road to the spot where George’s RV is parked. The travel trailer will have to go to someone else instead. George said there is somebody in this community who needs it more.
“This is a blow, but you know what, I’ll overcome,” George said. “That’s what we do – stay strong, have a good support team around you. Everybody makes it.”
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He and his fiancé remain on a waiting list for another camper of living space. The First Baptist Church of Marshall has worked to provide shelter for people with nowhere to go.
George is confident that Marshall will emerge stronger after this challenge.
“It’s an amazing community,” George said. “How we’ve (come) together during this hurricane and lifted everybody up.”
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