Guests return to western North Carolina inn after Hurricane Helene

Yahoo

23-05-2025

MCDOWELL COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — There's an old joke about how you eat an elephant where the punchline is, 'One bite at a time.'
The point is that even monumental tasks can be accomplished if you just start and keep plugging away. That's the way Carter Francois has been dealing with his livelihood washing down the side of a mountain in McDowell County during Hurricane Helene.
After seven months of constant work, Carter and his business partner, Steve Carlsen, have half of their dozen rooms ready for guests once again.
'Originally, I didn't think we'd make it at all because I wasn't in tune with how bad the damage actually was,' Francois said. 'But once we decided … we could make a go of it … just kept on working until we made it happen.'
Among the first guests were Corey Sinclair and his wife, Joanne Ponvanit, who came from Los Angeles. They experienced their own natural disaster with the wildfires that damaged much of that area. Ponvanit's place of work was closed at least for a while.
Being across the country, they weren't as familiar with the damage Helene did as many in North Carolina are.
'Being here and seeing it and driving through, it just puts things in perspective of how much damage was done,' Ponvanit said.
'We had read about the damage, and we love to support any way we can, and what's left is amazing, and it's beautiful, and I encourage people to come up and really enjoy the view, and the food is good, and it's great,' Sinclair said.
They wanted to come see where Sinclair's relatives lived in the Great Smoky Mountains and travel the Blue Ridge Parkway while they were on this side of the country and decided to book a night at the Alpine Inn.
'We had no idea that we would end up with a view like this … The story behind it … adds to the excitement … We were just going to stay last night, and we enjoyed it so much … It's just so beautiful that we decided to stay again tonight,' Sinclair said.
So the Alpine Inn isn't fully booked these days, but the fact that he has some money coming in rather than money simply going out to pay for reconstruction is a great change for Francois.
'We're kind of behind the 8-ball a little bit in terms of when we normally start, but we're open,' Francois said.
See more about the reopening of the Alpine Inn in this Mountain of Trouble edition of the Buckley Report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.