Mountain town featured in Dirty Dancing and The Last of the Mohicans wiped out after floodwaters from Hurricane Helene blasted everything into nearby lake
The once idyllic mountain village of Chimney Rock, North Carolina, which was immortalized on film including the blockbusters The Last of the Mohicans and Dirty Dancing, has been virtually wiped out after being devastated by the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
Located in the heart of the state, the small village of just 140 residents sits beneath the towering cliffs of Chimney Rock State Park and had long attracted filmmakers for its breathtaking scenery.
But now the village, along with pristine Lake Lure, is in ruins and littered with debris caused by the devastating floods that swept through the area this weekend.
A wall of water rushed down the Broad River, sweeping away most of the structures along Main Street in Chimney Rock and sending them into Lake Lure.
The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and now floods the town with debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene
Just days earlier, the lake was both pristine and the perfect place to go boating
People in and around Chimney Rock have described the village’s downtown area as faded.
The normally pleasant creek that runs along Main Street was turned into a raging torrent that blows away buildings, some of which had been standing since the 1950s.
“I’ve never seen concentrated damage like we’ve seen here,” Chris Murray, a Pamlico County emergency manager, told police. News and Observer.
“There’s nothing left.” ‘The village? There’s just nothing left.’
Murray said rescuers had rescued more than 150 people stranded by rushing water by sunset on Saturday.
Images show inches of mud and sediment caked on the streets, along with uprooted trees, broken telephone poles and buildings reduced to rubble.
Ed Broyhill, a North Carolina GOP national committee member and Lake Lure homeowner, described the devastation as heartbreaking.
“The saddest thing in the world is that many people have made a living by focusing on tourism…. They have everything from hotels and motels and restaurants and nice shops and souvenir shops and clothing stores, and it’s all been washed away. Every bit of it, everything, was washed into the lake,” Broyhill said Fox News.
For decades, Chimney Rock stood as a quiet, picturesque escape, but what finally came onto the map was when it became a stage for Hollywood.
The towering cliffs and dramatic vistas came to life in The Last of the Mohicans in 1992, with Chimney Rock and Hickory Nut Gorge providing the backdrop for the film’s thrilling final scenes.
The unforgettable cliff chase featuring Daniel Day-Lewis’ character was filmed on the rugged peaks of Chimney Rock and attracted film buffs and tourists alike to the area.
A few years earlier, in 1987, the village and nearby Lake Lure were spotlighted by Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray.
The village and nearby Lake Lure were spotlighted by Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray in Dirty Dancing
The towering cliffs and dramatic vistas were brought to life in 1992’s The Last of the Mohicans. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is pictured
In Lake Lure, North Carolina, approximately six feet of debris piled up on a bridge from Lake Lure to Chimney Rock, blocking access
The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and floods Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rainfall from Hurricane Helene
A family looks at the village that was torn to shreds by the powerful floods
Most of Chimney Rock was significantly damaged or destroyed by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, with the Broad River inundating the village.
The unforgettable cliff chase featuring Daniel Day-Lewis’ character was filmed on the rugged peaks of Chimney Rock and attracted film buffs and tourists alike to the area
The final scene from The Last of the Mohicans was filmed at the top of Chimney Rock in the state park
The sleepy village, along with the sparkling waters of Lake Lure, served as the fictional Kellerman’s Resort, where Baby and Johnny’s romance was set against the beautiful backdrop of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Lake Lure’s iconic boathouse and now-famous lake lift scene became symbols of the film, making the area a favorite pilgrimage site for fans.
While the area’s natural beauty drew people to the area for decades, it is the forces of nature that have essentially torn the community to shreds, with any realistic recovery years away.
“We knew Chimney Rock was just gone. People told each other about it. Lake Lure is now what remains of Chimney Rock,” Lizzie Brewer said Garden & Rifle.
“My mom showed me a picture and it doesn’t even look like there’s any water in it, it’s so covered in mud, bits of wood that look like toothpicks. Entire buildings were washed into the lake.”
A destroyed house with a car underneath in Chimney Rock, North Carolina
Storm debris is seen in the waters of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, near the village of Chimney Rock, seen from the air Monday from a North Carolina National Guard aircraft
Rescuers from the Pamlico County Rescue Team are working to clear roads of fallen trees
Rescuers from the Pamlico County Rescue Team work in the wake of Helene in the Chimney Rock area
Shocking footage on Saturday captured a powerful torrent of muddy brown water rushing down a pristine green hillside in Chimney Rock, as the eerie sound of an emergency warning siren can be heard in the background.
The sudden waterfall destroyed everything in its path, including wooden buildings and family cars that are simply tossed aside like discarded toys by the rising water.
Chimney Rock which was largely destroyed by the wall of water that flowed down the Broad River.
As the water flowed through it, the buildings and everything in them were swept away.
Everything came to a standstill as the debris slammed into the concrete bridge between Chimney Rock and Lake Lure.
It came with such force that refrigerators and trees exploded.
Flood debris from Hurricane Helene is seen in Lake Lure
A wall of water rushed down the Broad River, destroying most of the structures along Main Street in Chimney Rock
The remains of wooden buildings now look like toothpicks among the rubble
The river flows into Lake Lure, which was full of the remains of houses, trees and other debris
The river flows into Lake Lure, which was full of the remains of houses, trees and other debris.
Charlotte City Council Member Tariq Bokhari posted a video to X showing the devastation at Lake Lure, calling it “post-apocalyptic.”
‘It’s so overwhelming. You don’t even know how to fathom what recovery looks like, let alone where to start,” Bokhari wrote.