The once-idyllic mountain village of Chimney Rock, North Carolina, that was immortalized on film including blockbusters The Last of the Mohicans and Dirty Dancing has been all but wiped out after being blasted by the floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Helene.
The small village with a population of just 140 people, nestled in the heart of the state, sits beneath the towering cliffs of Chimney Rock State Park and had long attracted filmmakers for its breathtaking landscape.
But now, the village, along with its pristine Lake Lure, lies in ruins and is full of debris brought on by the devastating floods that churned through the area this weekend.
A wall of water came rushing down the Broad River, wiping out most of the structures along Main Street in Chimney Rock and sending it into Lake Lure.
The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and now overflowed the town with debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene
Only days earlier the lake was both pristine and the perfect place to go boating
People in and around Chimney Rock have described the village’s downtown as washed out.
The normally pleasant stream that runs along Main Street was turned into a churning torrent blasting away buildings some of which had stood since the 1950s.
‘I’ve never seen concentrated damage like we’ve seen here,’ said Chris Murray, an emergency manager in Pamlico County told the News & Observer.
‘There’s nothing left.’ ‘The village? There’s just nothing left.’
Murray said rescuers had saved more than 150 people by sundown on Saturday who had been stranded by the rushing water.
Images show inches of mud and sediment caked onto the streets together with uprooted trees, snapped telephone poles and buildings turned into debris.
Ed Broyhill, a North Carolina GOP national committee member and homeowner on Lake Lure, described the devastation as heart-wrenching.
‘The saddest thing in the world is that a lot of the folks have etched out a living catering to tourism…. They have everything from hotels and motels and restaurants and nice stores and souvenir stores and clothing stores, and all of that was washed away. Every bit of it, all of it, was washed into the lake,’ Broyhill said to Fox News.
For decades, Chimney Rock stood as a quiet, picturesque escape, but what finally put on the map when it became a stage for Hollywood.
The towering cliffs and dramatic vistas were brought to life in The Last of the Mohicans in 1992, with Chimney Rock and Hickory Nut Gorge providing the backdrop for the film’s thrilling final scenes.
The unforgettable cliff chase with Daniel Day-Lewis’ character was filmed on Chimney Rock’s rugged peaks drawing film lovers and tourists alike to the area.
A few years earlier in 1987, the village and nearby Lake Lure were thrust into the limelight by Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
The village and nearby Lake Lure were thrust into the limelight by Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing
The towering cliffs and dramatic vistas were brought to life in The Last of the Mohicans in 1992. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is pictured
In Lake Lure, North Carolina, approximately six feet of debris piled on a bridge from Lake Lure to Chimney Rock, blocking access
The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and overflowed the of Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene
A family looks on at the village which was torn to shreds by the powerful floodwaters
The majority of Chimney Rock was substantially damaged or destroyed by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, with the Broad River inundating the village
The unforgettable cliff chase with Daniel Day-Lewis’ character was filmed on Chimney Rock’s rugged peaks drawing film lovers and tourists alike to the area
The final scene from The Last of the Mohicans was filmed on top of Chimney Rock in the state park
The sleepy village along with Lake Lure’s shimmering waters, served as the fictional Kellerman’s Resort, where Baby and Johnny’s romance played out against the stunning backdrop of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Lake Lure’s iconic boat house and the now-famous lift scene in the lake became symbols of the film, making the area a beloved pilgrimage site for fans.
While the areas natural beauty drew people to the area for decades, it is the forces of nature that have essentially torn the community to shreds with any realistic recovery years away.
‘We knew Chimney Rock was just gone. People were telling each other about it. Lake Lure is the remnants of Chimney Rock now,’ Lizzie Brewer told Garden & Gun.
‘My mom showed me a picture and it doesn’t even look like there’s water in it, it’s so covered in mud, pieces of wood that look like toothpicks. Entire buildings were washed into the lake.’
A destroyed house with a car under it in Chimney Rock, North Carolina
Storm debris can be seen in the waters of Lake Lure in Rutherford County near the village of Chimney Rock, as seen from overhead from a North Carolina National Guard plane on Monday
Rescue workers from the Pamlico County rescue team are shown working to clear roads of fallen trees
Rescue workers from the Pamlico County rescue team are shown working in the aftermath of Helene the area of Chimney Rock
Shocking footage on Saturday captured a powerful torrent of muddy brown water racing down what was a pristine green hillside in Chimney Rock, while the eerie sound of an emergency alert siren can be heard whining in the background.
The sudden waterfall blasted away anything in its path including wooden buildings and family cars which are simply tossed aside by the surging waters like discarded toys.
Chimney Rock which was largely destroyed by the wall of water surging down the Broad River.
As the water plowed through, it carried away the buildings and everything inside of them.
Everything came to a stop when the debris slammed against the concrete bridge between Chimney Rock and Lake Lure.
It came with such force that it exploded refrigerators and trees.
Flood debris from Hurricane Helene is seen floating into Lake Lure
A wall of water came rushing down the Broad River, wiping out most of the structures along Main Street in Chimney Rock
The remnants of wooden buildings now look like toothpicks among the debris
The river flows into Lake Lure, which was full of the remains of homes, trees and other debris
The river flows into Lake Lure, which was full of the remains of homes, trees and other debris.
Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari posted a video on X showing the devastation at Lake Lure, calling it ‘post-apocalyptic.’
‘It’s so overwhelming. You don’t even know how to fathom what recovery looks like, let alone where to start,’ Bokhari wrote.