“The Heartbeat is Starting to Patter Again”: River Arts District One Year After Hurricane Helene
Jeffrey Burroughs, president of the River Arts District Artists, described watching floodwaters sweep through the district during Hurricane Helene.
“We’re standing on the bridge and watching the dreams of our district, the cultural heartbeat of our community, just surge down the French Broad,” Burroughs said.
But within days of the storm, volunteers and artists began rebuilding.
“We didn’t wait for permission,” Burroughs said. “With hundreds of volunteers from all over the world, we started building back.”