Despite destruction by Helene, this small NC town is still a place of beauty and peace

It's still there.

Even with buildings blasted away as if in war. Even with soldiers, trained for war, walking the dusty, desolate streets. Even with people walking around in Tyvek suits and masks, it's still there in Marshall.

The serenity of this mountain town.

You can see it in the cupola and columns of the Madison County Courthouse. You can see it in the steeple of the Marshall Presbyterian Church, where Lynne Simpson keeps vigil.

"Oh it's hard not to cry," she said, gazing at Main Street. "You can see all this devastation, but you can't see what was here before."

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The coffee shop and art gallery, the pizza place and brewery. Every business in Marshall, home to about 800 people, was severely damaged or destroyed by the overflowing French Broad River. Others disintegrated into the torrent. The town hall is hollowed out.

Bob Wright and Donna Madison were so beguiled by Marshall – its mountain backdrop, its Mayberry feel – that they bought a house and land just outside town. They moved in from Charleston, S.C., one week before Helene brought the worst flood in anyone's memory.

"We just loved the feel of this whole area," Madison said. "I mean, we've been looking to move up here for about five years because we just love this area and that's where we wanted to be."

Their home is high enough in elevation that it escaped damage. So now, they're suited up in protective coveralls to do whatever they can in town: Scoop away mud, rip away drywall.

"I'm actually a little bit optimistic here, because a lot of these buildings look like they're fairly intact," Wright said.

Kyndall Moody, a 25-year-old who now lives in Asheville, grew up in Marshall. She, too, came to suit up and provide whatever help she can.

"It's kind of surreal," she said as she stood on Main Street. "Because I remember walking down the streets during Halloween and during Christmas watching the Christmas parade here."

She and other are confident all of that will be back. Even with the mounds of rubble and the town's traffic lights gone dark, it's still there.

That peace in the valley.

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