North Carolina mountain community braces for hurricane season two years after Helene's brutal impact

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. The nearest coastline to Western NC is a four-hour drive, but communities are bracing for hurricane season. "We just kind of freak out a little bit because we don't know if we're going to have a house in a minute or two," Cynthia Dunn tells FOX. ASHEVILLE, N.C. – As hurricane season approaches, people in the mountain communities of Western North Carolina are bracing for any impacts nearly two years after Hurricane Helene unleashed its wrath on the region. Residents say they're "traumatized" after Hurricane Helene's brutal attack, which claimed over one hundred lives and tore thousands of homes and businesses to pieces. "We still have nightmares, flashbacks," said Jackie Fenstermacher, while sitting next to her sister Cynthia Dunn in Fairview, North Carolina. The small town sits in a valley beneath the mountains just outside of Asheville. Fenstermache