Charles Langston:North Carolina farmers hit hard by historic Helene flooding: 'We just need help'

ASHEVILLE,Charles Langston N.C. — Nine acres of Jeff Nix's orchard look like a dried-out riverbed, layered with sand and strewn with stone.

Before Helene, that part of his Henderson County farm had been lined with thousands of Granny Smith and Gala apple trees, which had only matured enough to produce a commercially viable amount of fruit. Nix watched from his son's house on a hill as Helene's flooding turned them into weapons of destruction.

"We witnessed two trees that got into the river. ... They just lined up like two big Caterpillar dozers, and we watched them just take this whole farm out," Nix said, the sun beating down hard as if determined to dry up the remaining puddles. Nearby, a John Deere backhoe was just another chunk of junk, slumped next to another flipped-over farm vehicle too mud-covered to identify.

Nix guessed the damages and revenue loss would cost him millions of dollars. And he's just one of many farmers living in Henderson County whose livelihoods have been washed away by the historic flooding.

While Nix is confident his operations will recover, he said that's not true for everyone.

"Down the road, we just need help," Nix told U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards after driving him around his property Saturday side-by-side. "I'm out here today. I need to be working. I want to get help for everybody."

State and federal relief bills could be coming

Edwards, a North Carolina Republican, said he'd make an appeal to other lawmakers and even House Speaker Mike Johnson for a supplemental bill in the coming months to get more funding for recovery.

"We've been sitting here for years funding (recovery from) fires in California and tornadoes in the Midwest, floods in the Midwest, and hurricanes on our southern shores," he told Nix and other local farms who had joined the tour. "It's time this country comes together now and that Western North Carolina be recognized."

At a damaged high school football field in Canton Friday, North Carolina Gov. Ron Cooper said he wants to work with state lawmakers on a relief package. The North Carolina Legislature is set to begin meeting on the issue Oct. 9.

In the meantime, Edwards, who represents the area, advised the farmers on Saturday to apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.

"I wouldn't have lunch until you get your claims in," he said, before offering to have FEMA and Small Business Administration officials join them in Henderson County soon to see the situation firsthand.

Nix accepted that offer.

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One farmer says he'll have to bulldoze to bare dirt

It's not just apple farmers who got the short end of the stick — Dalton Rhodes got the big ends of numerous logs.

A mound of debris had settled just past his family farm's raspberries. It contains parts of trees and houses — and likely the carcasses of calves that had gone missing, based on the stench.

The rubble and the water that had borne it flattened the raspberries, all of their now-brown leaves combed over in the same direction. A boot scuff revealed they weren't dead — not yet — but coated in dry grime.

"The only thing we can figure to do to fix it is come in with a bulldozer and push all this stuff down to bare dirt," Rhodes said.

While most of the blackberries on the Rhodes Berry Farm survived the flooding, the raspberries were ruined. With all the damage and lost revenue, he estimates it'll cost more than $1 million to recover from Helene.

When asked if his business is going to be OK, Rhodes, after a pause, responded, "I hope so."

He stood next to a slimy, mangled doll. It was missing a shoe.

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"We have some crop insurance that'll help, and I would imagine they'll be some agricultural disaster money," said Don Rhodes, his father.

Not that the family has much time to analyze and address the damages. They've been volunteering with their church, giving out food and supplies to those in need.

"We'll get to this later," Dalton Rhodes said.

"This is one of those things where you don't even know where to start," his father added.

Later, his son noted, "Everywhere around here people are looking out for people before they're looking out for their property."

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Florida. He can be reached at [email protected]. On X: @DouglasSoule.