ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Last September, Brandon Davis had just opened the business of his dreams.

The funky 70s-themed bar known as Day Trip sat near the banks of Asheville's French Broad River. Davis and his husband, Davie, poured their heart into creating a space that was warm, welcoming and teeming with vintage wares. The bar was open for a month before the floodwaters from Hurricane Helene tore through the space, leaving a nasty mess.

"Everything was covered in sewage from the ceiling to the floor," Davis recalled. "All of the antiques that I had been collecting and the vibe that I had curated. And to see it all just covered in crap and waste and dirt and mud. It was a big bummer."

It wasn't just places directly along the river that suffered. The storm ripped out the city's water main

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