A “wild ride” back home: Carolina mom, daughter near end of Helene recovery
SWANNANOA, N.C. — Elizabeth Barker’s life already was in a state of transformation in 2024. The changes, though, were ones she embraced, ones she chose, and ones she pursued.
She and daughter Natalie were enjoying life in the cozy former home she had purchased in 2018. It was among multiple homes built in the 1920s by the Beacon Manufacturing Company (known locally then as the “Beacon Blanket Mill”) for families whose livelihoods depended on mill jobs. As many as 2,200 workers were once employed at what was one of the world’s largest blanket mills before it closed for good in 2002 and then burned in 2003.
“She was so proud of her house and, you know, she had really made it a home for her and Natalie,” recalled Ginny Barker, Elizabeth’s mother and a Realtor in the area. “We all did a lot of work on it. She just worked so hard.”
That hard work included putting herself through school, obtaining her bachelor of science, and landing a position as a labor and delivery nurse at Mission Hospital in nearby Asheville. By the fall of 2024, she was in her final semester of work toward achieving her master’s degree in nurse midwifery.
During the middle of that semester, however, remnants of Hurricane Helene unleashed torrential rainfall, more than 2,000 landslides, and historic flooding across Western Carolina. Raging waters stormed down Black Mountain, sending the Swannanoa River over its banks and into many neighborhoods, including Beacon Village. Floodwaters reached the roofs of Elizabeth’s home along with many others.
She and Natalie, now 13, moved in with her parents, with whom Natalie has always had a very close relationship. They live a couple of miles from Beacon Village, keeping Natalie in her same school district. A couple of months later, Elizabeth got her masters in nurse midwifery and began a new job in Silva. It was not a normal situation for them, but it was stable, and life was moving forward. Unfortunately, their house in Beacon Village was at a standstill.
They spent a year in a small basement apartment at her parents’ home while navigating government red tape and obstacles that kept her damaged home in limbo. A few months ago, they moved into an apartment of their own but still didn’t know how to proceed with their damaged home.
“It’s been a little wild,” Elizabeth said. “There were a lot of factors that went into rebuilding the house. And then my daughter initially expressed fear of living back in the house for fear of a flood again. I was trying to weigh all the pros and cons and wondered if it made sense. In a lot of ways I didn’t even have time to really think about it because there was so much that was up in the air.”
Many groups and individuals came into towns such as Swannanoa offering help. Most came with good intentions, but a few came with red flags. Elizabeth was among many who were not sure whom to trust.
“There was a little wariness with a couple of people who expressed a desire to help, who just came in off the street,” Elizabeth recalled. “They weren’t associated with any group. And there were a couple of folks that were a little bizarre.”
“For a long time, she was kind of at a standstill,” Ginny added. “She was just kind of at a point where she just didn’t know where she fit or what was the right thing to do.”
As the mud cleared and the dust settled, multiple homes were being rebuilt and restored in the area, including several in Beacon Village. Elizabeth saw her neighbors getting back to normal with the help of a few groups who had gained the trust of locals, most notably the Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders.
“I did not obviously jump on the bandwagon right off the bat because I just wasn’t sure,” Elizabeth said. “By the time that I did, the Disaster ReBuilders already had done four or five houses on my street at that point. I was able to talk to my neighbors, and they all had good experiences. At that point, there was some trust built up.”
“I have heard nothing but positive things about them from everybody else,” Ginny added. “And every interaction that we’ve had has been very positive. I just didn’t know that everything was going to happen so quickly.”
Elizabeth also has been amazed at the recent progress on her home.
“It’s nice to see what’s been happening,” she said. “The walls have been framed out. The subfloor is back in. They rebuilt the railing on the front porch and put on a new roof. So, you can definitely see it’s starting to come together after kind of sitting like an empty shell for a year. It’s really been good to see that.”
Of course, it’s not just Elizabeth’s home that is finding new life. The entire neighborhood is being reborn with the help of the Disaster ReBuilders and the teams of volunteers who have come from across the country to help them in Swannanoa and nearby communities.
“It’s been nice to see everything kind of being rebuilt from the ground up, so to speak,” Elizabeth said. “And it’s fun to see everyone’s kind of personal touch to it. I know it’s brought the community, our whole neighborhood back together. I think there’s an even stronger sense of community now.
“There are no words to truly express how grateful I am that the ReBuilders and volunteers have really put in the work and dedication for our neighborhood specifically,” she added. “Everybody’s been incredibly kind and understanding and easy to communicate with, and they’ve really made the process work well. They’ve really made it as smooth as they possibly can. I’m just so thankful that they wanted to jump in and help out.”
While Natalie had expressed reservations about returning to the site of what was deemed a once-in-500-years flood, she now is becoming excited about getting back to the neighborhood and the house she and her mother called home for years.
“Now that we’re rebuilding, I think she’s really enjoying having some say in the process,” Elizabeth said. “She’s excited to get to a point where we can pick out, for instance, a room color for her room. I’m trying to let her have a little bit of say in things. I laid out a few different house colors when they were asking what color we wanted to paint the house. I think being able to put in her opinion has helped her.”
As a Realtor, Ginny knows how important it is for homeowners to have a say and not have decisions made for them.
“There were just lots of obstacles and unknowns, and they have just been great with working with her,” she said of the Disaster ReBuilders. “I really appreciate them giving her — and giving all of the people — options. I think one thing that this disaster ripped away from so many people was a sense of agency. They just felt so powerless. Something they had worked to make their own was just now gone. Now, it’s just a huge relief to everyone.”
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