A Neighborhood Tire Shop Weathers the Storm

Up in the residential neighborhoods of Swannanoa, North Carolina, a family-owned tire shop stands on the corner of North Avenue and Park Street. In the midst of dilapidated, flood-ravaged houses and flattened foundations, stacks of tires and jacked-up cars mark the neighborhood’s one reminder of how things used to be. 

A modest town of 5,000 and 10 miles east of Asheville, Swannanoa was one of the communities that was hit the hardest by Hurricane Helene in late September. Lying in a mountainous valley, the small town’s narrow topography made the hurricane’s flooding conditions even more perilous for an unprepared population. 

Heavy rainfall weakened the strength of the soil in the days prior to the storm, and the Swannanoa River reportedly rose to a deadly height of over 27 feet on the afternoon of Sept. 27 – its normal level is around 1.4 feet. There were 107 reported fatalities from the storm in North Carolina, 43 of which were in Asheville and Swannanoa’s Buncombe County.

Alex Orellana has owned and operated Swannanoa Tire Shop for nearly two decades, while his daughter Anna assists and translates for him – she remembers the first day that floods from Hurricane Helene started to sweep through the area.

“We were at home, we weren’t aware of what the severity of the issue was – so [the Orellanas] were actually on their way here,” said Orellana, wearing matching blue workwear with her dad. “They weren’t able to make it past the Harley-Davidson here, so like a mile [away]. That’s when the shock really hit, because they couldn’t see if the garage was good, what was going on.”

The Orellanas live in Leicester, a town northwest of Asheville and half an hour from Swannanoa. Their house was untouched by the flood, but their shop wasn’t as lucky.

“They saw they lost 21 cars – yeah, it was crazy stuff,” said Orellana. “The building was flooded a little over halfway, there wasn’t much they could do, really.” The tire shop lies a mere 300 feet away from the Swannanoa River, only separated by Highway 70. While far enough away to not be swept up by the waters, the shop sustained intense damage that left the Orellanas unsure of what to do next. They stuck it out in the midst of uncertainty.

“It was mainly us, we did come every day. I don’t really know why, but it was more of an emotional thing, I guess,” said Orellana. “Just trying to support my dad. He wasn’t very expressive, he was quiet about it. It was kind of sad seeing him see all his hard work, because it did take him a few years to be able to get where he’s at now.”

Alex immigrated from El Salvador about 25 years ago, initially working in one of his siblings’ auto shops before deciding to start his own. “He started saving, [he] still did other little jobs, did construction for a bit,” said Orellana. “And then once he had enough money, he got his little garage – I mean, he already had his tools from working with his siblings. He opened up a very little business, but he made it happen.”

Compared to other neighboring towns in the area, Swannanoa has one of the more significant Hispanic populations in western North Carolina – as of 2020, 12.7% of residents were Hispanic or Latino, a large jump from 2.5% in the 2000 census. Anna remembers the town looking much different during her upbringing.  

“I remember when I was in elementary school, middle school, I was one of the only Latina kids,” said Orellana. “So yeah, up until I would say 2016, when a lot of Latinos really started coming over. And now the whole Asheville area, I would say is pretty diverse.” 

In the storm, Alex lost tools and equipment that he had been collecting since the early 2000s. After sustaining such a huge loss, the family’s only option was to temporarily close up shop for a while. 

“I mean, we had to,” said Orellana. “We lost all of our equipment – client cars, personal cars, all the tires got washed away, everything. It took us, I would say about a month to get back up.”

However, the tire shop was one of the luckier businesses in the area.“Thankfully, we had a bit of savings. We built back up, but it did take a little bit of time, said Orellana. “I mean, we didn’t get much financial support – the insurance that was here in the area for most businesses didn’t cover hurricane stuff, so most businesses were hit pretty hard financially.”

The Orellanas received no government aid for the loss of their equipment and the damage sustained to their store. “FEMA, which was the main source of help here,” said Orellana, “what they did was loans, and we found that that wasn’t the best option for us.” They had to rely on other sources of support.

“Really, the only financial help we got was from the Samaritan’s Purse,” said Orellana. “They were helping with $5,000 for small businesses, and so they did help us with a little bit of equipment.” Samaritan’s Purse is a global Christian humanitarian aid organization, headquartered in nearby Boone, North Carolina. They were heavily involved in Helene recovery efforts.

Despite it all, the hurricane had an unexpected effect on the Orellanas – business has been better for them in the months since the storm. “We both feel that now after the hurricane, we’ve actually gotten more support, more clientele,” said Orellana. “There’s been a lot of local news groups that have come and have spoken to us, put us on their page, and then we’ve gotten more traffic, really.” Shortly after the storm, the shop was profiled in USA Today and the Asheville Citizen Times. 

Anna has complicated feelings towards the uptick in customers.“It’s kind of bittersweet in that way. I mean, definitely you don’t expect such a bad thing to bring you more business,” she said. “I would say the media coverage – since we’re a Latino small business, it was mainly Latinos that we had coming as clients. But then the media coming, interviewing us, and then that just brought more diversity in our clients.”

Six months after the storm’s initial devastation, Orellana still feels the effects on the area. “It’s pretty devastating. I mean, if we’re six months out and people still don’t have homes,” she said. She gestured towards the nearby river. “If we look back over that way, you can see the campers where some people are living in. Thankfully, you don’t see as many people living in tents anymore, but there definitely still [are].”

Although the shop has rebounded in the months since, she knows that much of the area hasn’t. “Just be mindful. Don’t forget about us,” said Orellana. “I mean, it was a hard hit and there’s still a lot of us trying to navigate both the emotional damage and the physical damage, labor-wise. Just living is completely different now.”

---

This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available here.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club.