Hurricane Helene Survey: Personal Impacts

Introduction

This post is the third in a series based upon the results of a survey of WNC entrepreneurs conducted following Hurricane Helene. In November and December 2024, the Carolina Small Business Development Fund research team surveyed almost 140 businesses that have received services from CSBDF’s Western Women’s Business Center. This post highlights the tremendous impacts of the hurricane on participants’ personal lives and businesses, in their own words. 

Hurricane Helene damage in Madison County | Credit: NCDOT

While the WWBC and its partners with the Western North Carolina Small Business Initiative grant program have provided essential capital and technical assistance to WNC entrepreneurs, additional grant funding is needed to ensure that businesses in the region survive, recover, and thrive. 

Hurricane Helene Survey Blog Post 3: Impacts on Entrepreneurs’ Personal Lives 

For many entrepreneurs, the line between their personal and professional lives is blurry. Often, business owners’ income, identities, and community ties are greatly impacted by the success of their firms. In turn, the profitability of small businesses is heavily dependent on the wellbeing and availability of their owners. As a result, events that significantly affect small businesses–such as natural disasters–greatly impact their owners’ wellbeing, and the impacts of disasters on entrepreneurs’ personal lives have a substantial effects on their businesses.  

Trauma 

In their open-ended responses, almost 40% of survey participants reported that they suffered from traumatic experiences during or following Hurricane Helene. These experiences undoubtedly impacted their ability to restart their businesses following the storm and return them to profitability. 

“[We are] carrying a community trauma every day. The future is uncertain. Kids are way behind in school and I'm not sure how hard to push them.” 

“Hurricane Helene has impacted my personal life because my community was devastated. While I did not experience damage to my personal home, my neighbors lost everything. We were all without power and internet for weeks, and the trauma we have all collectively experienced has forever changed us all.” 

Displacement 

Hurricane Helene damage in Buncombe County | Credit: NCDOT

When their homes became unsafe due to storm damage, some entrepreneurs were forced to evacuate, leaving their personal belongings–and in many cases, their businesses–behind. 

“My home in Swannanoa became unlivable and I lost many sentimental items in the flood. I am lucky to say that everyone in my household, including the animals, is alive and my clothes is ok and that we were able to evacuate. Evacuating was really hard, and I had to close my business for close to three weeks. I was displaced for one month and had to go from friends' places to finally an Airbnb that was covered by United Way.” 

“I'm a single mom and both myself and my daughter were displaced from our home. I have just now returned to our home but my daughter is still displaced and living with friends across the state until I have more stable finances and housing available to support her.” 

Environmental Health Concerns 

Hurricane Helen’s destructive impact on the region’s infrastructure created environmental hazards for many residents, such as unsafe drinking water, that significantly affected their ability to operate their businesses. 

“We are temporarily moving to another city in North Carolina. I cannot risk my health when it comes to having safe and clean water. The water at our apartment complex has tested positive for lead.” 

“I had a chemical burn that lasted for several weeks after clearing debris from the storm.” 

Impacts on Entrepreneurs’ Businesses 

Customers 

Numerous entrepreneurs reported that following Helene, their firm’s customer bases decreased significantly at a critical time for their business. 

“The amount of work to rebuild and dealing with the lack of customers has put an enormous amount of financial and emotional stress on me.” 

“I was completely unable to provide goods to my customers at home as well because at first there was no electricity. And then 20 days without water.” 

Income & Revenue 

As businesses’ in-person, delivery, and virtual customer bases decreased significantly, their income and revenue also declined.   

“We lost significant amounts of revenue in the busy season that we rely upon to get us through the slower months. We also have two children and the stress has filtered throughout our family.” 

“We had very little damage to our business physical location. However, $1,200 worth of inventory was placed in Asheville and we lost all of it. We also lost over $3,000 worth of projected income when 3 scheduled sales events cancelled.”  

Employees 

Hurricane Helene flooding in Buncombe County | Credit: NCDOT

Survey participants also lost valuable employees, either because they could no longer afford to pay their salaries, or because employees were unable to work due to personal difficulties or an inability to commute to work.  

“I also lost my assistant manager, as his commute from Cashiers became a three-hour round trip. Not only was his commute unrealistic, but the decline in business meant that I could not support his salary.” 

“As a result of the declining business, I lost the majority of my staff since they were not generating enough income. I have had to guarantee a minimum weekly wage to three employees just to remain open through the end of the year, and given the current level of demand, there is no way I will be profitable.” 

Survey participants’ responses demonstrate the damaging impacts of Hurricane Helene on their personal lives and businesses. Personal experiences of emotional trauma, displacement, and environmental health concerns have combined with decreases in customers, income and revenue, and employee availability to create tremendous obstacles to recovery for many firms. And although the region is now seven months removed from Helene, for many entrepreneurs the recovery effort continues.  

Next week’s post will focus on the significant contributions WNC entrepreneurs have made to recovery efforts in the region. Questions about the survey? Email CSBDF Director of Economic Development Policy Adam Safer at asafer@carolinasmallbusiness.org.