Restaurant workers face hard decisions after Hurricane Helene: stay or leave?

Restaurants are a major part of Asheville's $3bn tourist economy. But no drinking water in most areas and little recovery money put staff in limbo

Josiah McGaughey's fine dining restaurant, Vivian, is still standing. Many of its neighbors in the River Arts district in Asheville, North Carolina, were leveled by Hurricane Helene's flooding in late September.

We were graciously spared the worst of the damage," said McGaughey, who opened the business with his wife, Shannon, in 2017. Then, it was a pop-up serving elevated cuisine on paper plates at a local brewery. During the recent storm, Vivian's building sustained some roof damage. We lost water and power, as did everyone else. But we also lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of product."