Well, Helene's rage didn't stop there.

It punched the tiny community of Todd too.

With a population of just over 2,000 in a place where the river gives so much, it can also take it all away.

When disaster struck, two women found themselves not just rebuilding a business, but helping an entire community find its footing again.

Carolina Impact's Chris Clark brings us the details.

(screen zooming) (gentle music) - [Chris] Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains past quiet fields and river bends, you'll find Todd.

Not a person, a mountain town where the water, the woods, and the hills gather like old friends.

It's a place where time slows, the river shows the way, and where River Girl Fishing Company calls home.

- When I was working in Florida, me and the guys would talk about what we would do, if we weren't doing what we were doing.

And I would always say, "Oh, I'd have a fly shop in the mountains and teach people how to fish and go fishing and try to have fun."

- [Chris] Back in 2006, Kelly finally took the leap and turned her dream into a reality.

Starting small with fly fishing at the center.

It wasn't long before visitors began asking for more.

- Folks were coming in asking, "Can we go tubing?"

And I was like, "No, but I'll take you fishing."

"Can we go biking?"

I was like, "No, I'll build a fly rod for you."

So then we started opening up to other things.

- [Chris] What started with a fly rod kept growing, kayaking, then tubing, one idea flowed into the next.

So much so they had to move into a bigger home as quirky and full of personalities as they are.

- Most of the things I have to take down, because it's too gaudy.

So, she only lets me keep one rung of lost souls on the ceiling.

- There used to be 16.

- [Chris] Eventually, adding eco tours, biking, even a little petting zoo.

(pig snorting) - Who would not wanna do this job?

You know, I mean, six months out of the year we're providing a release for people.

- Kelly is so knowledgeable about everything along this river.

So, if you find a plant or a fish, Kelly can tell you exactly what it is.

She can tell you which plants are edible.

- [Chris] They've survived COVID and weathered plenty of storms before, but Helene was different.

- We've had the creek flood before, but this could potentially come into the building.

So, we took all of our equipment, put it into the warehouse in the backyard thinking the warehouse would have it contained.

And we come down here the next afternoon and the warehouse is gone.

- [Chris] Nearly everything they owned, 300 inner tubes, 15 bicycles, numerous kayaks, paddle boats were all trapped in debris or carried away by the river, but the people of Todd came together.

Lending hands and hearts to rescue what they could.

Showing that even in the darkest floods community runs deep.

- All of our friends were down there helping us pull out paddles, pull out tubes, anything that was valuable.

- [Chris] The support didn't end there.

For 19 years, River Girl had run a business, but it was always more than that.

Their customers became family.

And now, that extended family was reaching out to lend a hand.

- With like phone calls, text messages, email messages, Facebook messages, you know, can you check on so and so?

Do you need this or that?

- [Chris] For the next three weeks, they were the command center for relief efforts in the area with volunteers congregating at their place every morning.

- We'd have anywhere from 100, or 65, or 20, or two.

And so, every day that list of needs would change based on how many volunteers we had showing up.

- [Chris] Over the next month from Todd to Creston, Fleetwood to West Jefferson, the group fixed 30 roads or driveways.

They repaired 34 houses and distributed 58 generators.

They gave out over 100 heaters and removed 88,000 pounds of trash from the area.

- And then the magic happened, because we had folks who had purchased boats from us before.

They started donating their own boats and their tubes just to help us get through the coming season.

- [Chris] When the season opened, they hit the ground running, teaching foster kids to fish through the Mayfly Project, running kayaking and tubing trips, even helping raise money for the Todd Hurricane Relief Fund.

And just when it seems they couldn't do anymore, (gentle upbeat music) they found a way to make the river experience unlike anything else.

- They'd be kind, came down to the brunch side.

The tables are set up in the middle of the river.

- We were sitting here a moment ago and we thought to ourselves, is there anywhere else in the world right now that people are eating inside a river, like literally, sitting in the water?

And we figure we're probably the only people in the entire world that are doing this.

- [Chris] Business was holding on, but the crowds just weren't the same.

Then came the lift, not just for River Girl, but the whole community.

North Carolina's first lady Anna Stein paid a visit and her message was clear.

The mountains are still here and they still need us.

- So much of the state and the country came together last fall when Western North Carolina needed us.

And now, they still need us just in a different way.

So, they need us now as much as they ever have.

- [Chris] When people heard that call, it gave businesses a huge lift.

It wasn't just sales, it was a reminder that people still believe in this place.

And looking at what happened, not just as a hardship, but more as a part of the mountain's rhythm, it's carried people forward, helping them endure, adapt, and grow.

- We live inside our houses and we rearrange our furniture inside the house sometimes, 'cause we get bored with it.

And I think Mother Nature just got bored with the furniture outside and she rearranged it a little bit.

- [Chris] In Todd, the river bends, the hills rise, and life carries on.

For River Girl Fishing, the currents haven't pulled them under, it's carried 'em forward and their story keeps on flowing.

For Carolina Impact, I'm Chris Clark.