Hurricane Ivan passed over the mountains of Western North Carolina leaving behind broken homes and families. Just a week prior to this devastating storm, Hurricane Frances saturated the ground of some mountain counties prepping the area for disaster. In Macon County the flooding of the Cullusaja, Cartoogechaye, and Little Tennessee Rivers left a reminder of how powerful a hurricane can be even this far inland. Hurricane Ivan was downgraded to a tropical storm prior to its arrival in our region.

In Macon County the storm closed the Macon County Fair, knocked power out to thousands, toppled trees, swamped homes and closed roads isolating small communities. The storm also devastated Peeks Creek, a quiet little community in Macon County, with a mudslide that destroyed 12 homes, caused 4 deaths and there are still 4 missing.

Photos below were taken Friday, September 17th, by Lee Cloer, Dnet Web Services and reflect the effects of the flooding at the Macon County Fairgrounds and downtown Franklin, NC. Our prayers go out to all affected by this disaster.