They’re piled on river banks, lodged in uprooted trees, embedded in sediment and jammed under logs. Many are tangled in mounds of debris up to two stories high.
Two years after Hurricane Helene leveled forests, bulldozed houses and filled western North Carolina rivers with everything from cars to refrigerators, the work of cleaning up the debris goes on. Along the iconic French Broad Riv
er, known for its whitewater rapids, one item stands out from the rest: massive numbers of PVC pipes that washed away from a factory north of Asheville. As Hurricane Isaias
, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, intensifies, the PVC pipes are a reminder that damage can disrupt lives for years after a storm passes.
“Just the amount of time and energy that we put into removing all this pipe is exhausting,” said Jon Stamper, operations director at MountainTrue, the nonprofit conducting cleanup on several rivers affected by Helene. “We still have stretches of river that haven’t been touched.”
MountainTrue estimates its crews have pulled hundreds of thousands of pipes from the river — most of which went to landfills — with an untold number still littering the river for 70 miles (113 kilometers) to a large lake at the Tennessee border.
Canada-based IPEX would not say how many pipes were stored at its Woodfin, North Carolina, site before the storm or share results of a company-funded study of how
much remains in the river, calling the information “commercially sensitive.” Officials said 60% of pipes stored outdoors at the site, sandwiched between railroad tracks and the river, were swept away by the 2024 flood, but most were recovered fairly quickly.
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The company acknowledged that the remaining debris is significant and has agreed to pay MountainTrue $500,000 toward continued cleanup on the French Broad, allowing the organization to continue working into next year.
A $10 million state grant awarded to MountainTrue in 2025 to clean up debris in several western North Carolina rivers that was set to expire in December has been extended to February. The organization said there’s still a long way to go
and estimates it has spent 50,000 work-hours and over $1.5 million on pipe removal, which is only in the French Broad.
PVC pipe comprises 80% of the debris in some areas, according to MountainTrue, posing risks to rafters and kayakers, changing water flow and altering the ecosystem.
“We understand the ongoing challenge,” IPEX CEO Colleen Pritchett said. “We recognize that … recovery efforts are complex, they’re resource-intensive, and it’s constantly shaped by the river conditions.”
The Epic Flood Took Everyone by Surprise
Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina in late September 2024, dumping more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain in some areas, triggering landslides, toppling trees, pushing buildings off their foundations and choking waterways.
At IPEX, an earthen berm was the only thing separating tall stacks of pipes from the French Broad River. Company officials said they expected a so-called 100-year flood — meaning it has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year — and moved pipes out of that flood zone.
