Gen Z found a home in Asheville. Hurricane Helene swept it away.

Gen Zers like Sierra Isley, 24, moved to Asheville for work and a close-knit community.

Sierra Isley was still unpacking boxes when the storm hit. The 24-year-old and her partner moved to Asheville, North Carolina from Philadelphia a few weeks ago and signed a lease on their new apartment. The couple was thrilled. They’re recent college graduates beginning their careers and loved browsing the shops and art galleries in downtown’s River Arts District.

“We wanted to go somewhere that was newer to both of us, and Asheville had what we were looking for,” she told B-17. “We wanted to be somewhere with more nature.”

The morning the power went out, Isley knew something was wrong. The wind was rattling the windows, as broken power lines and tree branches began to litter the sidewalks. The flooding and sirens came next, as Category 4 Hurricane Helene made its way up from the Gulf Coast.

Helene’s damage in western North Carolina has been catastrophic. Asheville and its surrounding small towns are almost completely flooded — despite their location near the Blue Ridge mountains, about 300 miles inland. Residents and local businesses have been left without electricity, running water, cell service, and access to essentials. As of October 3, Buncombe County reported that 72 people have died, and hundreds more are missing. And, across the Southeastern US, the death toll is above 200.

Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage and flooding in western North Carolina.

Before the storm, Asheville was experiencing a renaissance with young people, especially Gen Z. Many, like Isley, relocated to the city because of its temperate climate, thriving business scene, and cozy neighborhoods. Others who grew up in the area returned from their college towns to work and buy homes.

With a long road to recovery on the horizon, these Gen Zers are wondering if they will stay.

Isley has temporarily relocated to Atlanta, where her sister lives. Her Asheville apartment sits empty: kitchen utensils, clothes, and decorations are still taped in cardboard boxes. She isn’t sure when it will be safe to return.

“I want to help as much as I can,” she said. “But I feel like, right now, it’s best that I don’t go back immediately so that the people who are there have the water and food they need.”

Gen Zers moved to Asheville for work opportunities and community

Over the past decade, Gen Z has been flocking to the Asheville area. Most loved the amenities of living in a city, while still being a short drive from a camping trip or mountain hike. The local brewery and tech industries offered plenty of jobs, and young people were attracted to the affordable (but rising) housing market.

The US Census Bureau estimated in 2023 that 31,218 young people ages 18 to 24 moved to the Asheville metro area — a figure similar to a city like Durham, which is more than twice the size of Asheville’s population.

Hector Hernandez-Ayolo, 24, is hoping to buy his own home in Asheville.

Hector Hernandez-Arroyo, 24, grew up in an Asheville suburb called Weaverville. He moved a few hours away to Greensboro for college but decided to return after graduation. The city is “very inclusive, very welcoming,” he said.

He ran downtown while training for his half-marathon and is settling into his project manager role at a construction company. He’s currently living at his parents’ house but is saving for a down payment on his own home.

Hernandez-Arroyo’s life was hurt by Helene: He has to boil the limited water he has access to if he needs a drink or shower. And, for the past few days, he’s been clearing out debris from various yards and city streets with his coworkers. Even so, he’s still hoping to buy a home in Asheville someday.

Iliana Villatoro’s family moved to the area when she was young. But, no matter where she traveled, the now-28-year-old always wanted to go back. She and her husband bought a house, run a local fencing business, and have found a group of friends to join for dinners and weekend activities.

Villatoro said it means a lot that the community is coming together to care for one other: Collecting donations and organizing help for the under-resourced rural areas surrounding the city.

“We own a business in Asheville, and we just want to support the community that’s given so much to us, and we’re not leaving,” she said. “We’re going to stay for the rebuild.”

Iliana Villatoro, 28, lives with her husband in Asheville.

Outside of boomerang residents like Hernandez-Arroyo and Villatoro, Asheville has welcomed a crop of movers from all over the country. Scott Pridemore of Pridemore Properties at Compass, a real-estate brokerage in North Carolina, told B-17 that many people go to nearby universities like Appalachian State University or University of North Carolina Asheville and never leave.

“Post Covid, we definitely saw a lot of people opting for life in the North Carolina Mountains,” Pridemore said. “And they moved from places like California, the Northeast, Texas, or Florida.”

Seventh-generation western North Carolina resident and Asheville real-estate agent Marilyn Wright sees Asheville as a special city that doesn’t take much to fall in love with.

“We’re such a unique place,” Wright told B-17. “I have a lot of clients who just drive through one time and move here.”

Wright was worried that after the storm, homebuyers already in contract would get cold feet and back out. But, she said, every one of her clients who were in contract before Helene still has plans to go forward with their purchases.

“Right now, we sort of have a black eye, but we’re still the same place,” she said. “We just got to get back up.”

Natural disasters could shape where Gen Z settles

For locals, the hurricane’s damage came as a shock. And, for some Gen Zers building their lives in Asheville, it’s making them reevaluate the future. The impacts of natural disasters could continue shaping where people move and live. Asheville had previously been dubbed a climate “safe haven.”

“If this becomes a normality, where any tropical storm that hits the Gulf makes its way up here and causes the same sort of damage,” Hernandez-Arroyo said, “then maybe there’s room for conversation as to where else I could go.”

Makenzie Rink, 23, was raised in an Asheville suburb and moved back after attending college in Raleigh, a nearly four-hour drive away. She’s been working for her family’s consulting business, and started a TikTok page to document her running and nature adventures in the area. This week, she’s been posting videos of the floods to raise awareness and connect residents with resources.

Makenzie Rink, 23, moved back home to the Asheville area after college.

Even prior to Helene, Rink knew she wouldn’t stay in Asheville forever. She’s in her early 20s, and wants to “experience a different part of the world,” she said. Her next stop might be Lexington, Kentucky, but she’s staying in the city right now to help collect food, water, and clean clothes for her fellow residents. Once she moves away, Rink is confident she’ll come back to visit.

“For those that were born here, have generations of their family here, or have moved here from somewhere else, Asheville — and western North Carolina as a whole — is such a special place,” she said, adding, “that’s why so many people visit, right?”

Isley also hasn’t given up on Asheville, even though she has barely moved in. She and her partner might even settle there for the long-run.

“It’s a different city than it was two months ago,” Isley said. “The people that I met during the two or three days that I was there without cell service — having other people around to talk to made it a lot less scary. It made me feel like this deep connection to the city.”

A majority of North Carolina homeowners didn’t have flood insurance. Then Helene hit.