North Carolina Christmas Tree Farm Completely Destroyed By Helene

Here's a sobering statement for you. It's been four weeks since Hurricane Helene. It will be fifteen years-if ever-for one Avery County Christmas tree farm to recover. Graham Avery and his family have farmed the same land for more than 200 years-passed down from generation to generation. Hurricane Helene roared in and wiped out a lifetime-LIFETIMES-worth of blood, sweat, and tears. He estimates between 60-80,000 trees were destroyed. And it's not like this is a quick recovery. It could take as much as a decade and a half, if ever. https://youtu.be/OhiyhFcc_wg Other farmers (luckily) fared better. Larry Smith is a fifth generation Christmas tree farmer that's been in business in the mountains of North Carolina for more than four decades. In what can only be described as miraculous, most of Smith's trees didn't sustain damage. However, it took more than a week for him to assess this as debris blocked the only road to his crop and equipment. That being said, he tells WBTV, “It’ll be the most challenging harvests that I’ve had," and further explained. “It’s changed the landscape here in Avery County forever,” Interestingly enough, it's said that this damage won't really affect this year's Christmas tree sales and inventory. However, going forward? If you think we're paying a lot for real trees now? Wait until there's a true supply and demand problem.