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“Rising Above Helene” Film and Panel Bring Survivors and Officials Together at ICC
Local leaders recount devastation, resilience, and lessons from the storm
SPINDALE, N.C. — About 250 people gathered Wednesday night at The Foundation at Isothermal Community College for the screening of Rising Above Helene, a documentary produced by 100 Strong Productions and the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, followed by a panel discussion with local and state leaders.
The panel featured voices from across government, emergency response, utilities, and nonprofits, including Rutherford County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bryan King, Lake Lure Mayor Carol Pritchett, Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary, Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg, Emergency Management Director Frankie Hamrick, Duke Energy’s Craig DeBrew, NCDOT engineer Jacob Zimmerman, Chimney Rock State Park Superintendent James Ledgerwood, Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Kim Freeman, and Governor’s GROW NC Senior Advisor Sharon Decker.
The speakers described the harrowing hours during and after Hurricane Helene struck in late September 2024, leaving roads impassable, bridges washed out, and communication systems down. “We were told Friday that we were on our own,” Hamrick said, recalling how emergency management teams scrambled until helicopters arrived and outside resources poured in.
Sheriff Ellenburg described both chaos and resilience: “We had 1,100 missing persons reports because families couldn’t get in contact due to no communications,” he said. Despite a deputy being shot at during the storm’s aftermath, Ellenburg praised officers for keeping looting down and “working until they were exhausted, dirty, and still refusing to quit.”
Infrastructure failures dominated the discussion. Mayor Pritchett said Lake Lure’s century-old systems proved dangerously vulnerable, while Zimmerman of NCDOT detailed the overwhelming task of reopening more than 1,100 county roads. “Never would imagine the flood damage that was coming,” he said.
Community-led efforts also played a central role. Freeman said Habitat for Humanity pivoted from housing repairs to unloading 572 relief planes and mobilizing 800 volunteers. “We don’t unload airplanes, but that’s what needed to be done,” she said.
Panelists also reflected on resilience. Ledgerwood, the Chimney Rock ranger, recounted rangers rescuing families while raising a flag at half-mast as a symbol of hope. Decker closed by urging the community to maintain unity: “What’s been done in a year is mind-blowing. If we keep working together, we’ll be blown away by the next year too.”
While Mayor Pritchett emphasized during the panel that Lake Lure suffered “no loss of life,” that statement is not accurate. According to the autopsy report obtained by Cops & Congress, Chimney Rock resident Lisa Peeler Brady was found floating in Lake Lure following the storm. The medical examiner confirmed her death was storm-related due to “landslide injuries,” underscoring that even in areas where officials described devastation as limited to infrastructure, lives were in fact lost. State officials say 108 people died in North Carolina as a result of Hurricane Helene, including four in Rutherford County.
Pritchett has made the same claim other times in public meetings and interviews since the hurricane hit, but never before to a large audience. State health officials count those who die in the town in which they are found under applicable health guidance and laws (see Vital Statistics Reporting Guidance / Guidance for Certification of Deaths in the Event of a Natural, Human-Induced, or Chemical/Radiological Disaster).
Though the event drew far fewer than the 1,400 people marked as “interested” on the event the county advertised on Facebook, those present heard directly from leaders in what officials said will not be available elsewhere. The film, County Manager Steve Garrison noted in opening remarks, is copyrighted, and it is unclear whether it will be released publicly. Rutherford County did not record the event. This is the only place you can see for yourself what happened, word-for-word.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated. I did not decide to share the state report lightly. I waited until a year after Helene. It is a public record, available to anyone who requests it. It is an important piece of news to shine a light on these issues.
