Parts of Western North Carolina got doused over Memorial Day weekend, but not evenly. In the mountains of eastern and northern Henderson County, the rain just settled in and stopped moving, burying communities like Gerton and Bat Cave overnight while downtown Hendersonville, just 15 miles away, barely got wet. Henderson County spokesperson Mike Morgan said the Hickory Nut area recorded anywhere from 7 to 10 inches of rain overnight.
"It's like the rain just kind of got over top of them and just sort of stopped for a little while," said Morgan, who spent most of Tuesday morning on the ground in Gerton watching crews work. "You go down the road and it hardly rained."
For residents of these tight mountain communities who are still living with the scars of Hurricane Helene, the overnight scenes hit hard. Driveways washed out. Small bridges gave way. Roads that looked passable were hollow underneath. The same spots that Helene carved up took another beating.
"I think residents are maybe a little on edge, which I can understand," Morgan said. "If you live in an area that went through Helene and then you're getting a whole lot of rain again, I think we've seen a lot of people with kind of a PTSD-type reaction to what's happening."
Morgan wants people to know this is not Helene. He spent much of Tuesday pushing back on social media posts circulating videos and photos from the 2024 storm misrepresenting what happened overnight. "That is not what we had happen here," he said, urging residents to trust local fire departments, emergency management and local media for accurate information.
Road damage and closures
Gerton Fire and Rescue ran multiple calls through the night. By early Tuesday morning the department posted on Facebook urging residents to stay home. "Many of the roads in our area are flooded or damaged from these storms," the department wrote.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation closed U.S. 74A, also known as Charlotte Highway, the main road connecting the area to Asheville, after a 48-inch culvert collapsed near the Buncombe-Henderson county line. The road is not expected to reopen until noon Wednesday. Crews are also addressing multiple damaged sites on the Henderson County side of the highway. Several secondary roads remain closed. A detour directs drivers to Cane Creek Road, U.S. 25 South, Interstate 26 East and U.S. 64 East.
Morgan said the damage is concentrated in roads and driveways, including washouts around temporary bridges and roads put in place after Helene. Officials are still assessing the full extent of damage across the county, including any impacts to homes and other structures. Crews including NCDOT workers, volunteer firefighters, local contractors and neighbors have been working all day to rebuild access so residents can get in and out. For real-time travel information visit drivenc.gov.
"Hats off to North Carolina DOT, to all the volunteer fire departments, law enforcement, emergency management and local contractors and folks that just showed up," Morgan said. "Yet again, our community is stepping up and helping each other out in the midst of a bad storm."
One call in Edneyville overnight initially appeared to require a water rescue. Crews responded and everyone was OK.
What comes next
Damage assessment is ongoing across the county. Morgan urged residents to stay alert in the days ahead as more rain is expected. The French Broad River near Fletcher remains under a flood advisory until 2 a.m. Wednesday. The river stood at 10.9 feet as of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, high enough to push water onto low-lying farmland along the river valley from Etowah to Avery Creek.
“If you come to a road closed sign, turn around,” Morgan said, “And if you have the ability — hunker down and stay home.”
