Millions of people travel to the North Carolina mountains each fall as the temperatures cool and the leaves turn. But two months after Hurricane Helene’s floods devastated parts of western North Carolina, tourists have stayed away. 

Many businesses in the North Carolina mountains rely on the busy fall tourism season.

Even areas that were spared the worst of Helene have seen a major drop in tourism this year.

“Dramatically, business went down since we’ve been blocked from the I-40 and the Smoky Mountains. So, as you see, business is completely down,” said Eitan Cohen.

Damage from Hurricane Helene flooding is seen along eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 near Tennessee's border with North Carolina. (AP Photo/George Walker IV via Pool)

Interstate 40 at the Tennessee border is expected to remain closed through the end of the year.

Fall tourism in the mountains brings in an estimated $1.8 billion each year, according to Visit North Carolina Executive Director Wit Tuttell. But this year it will be a fraction of that. 

Cohen works at Cherokee’s Best, a souvenir shop owned by his brother in Cherokee, in the far western corner of North Carolina. He said he’s worked there for 15 years. 

In a normal fall, Cohen said there would be 50 or 60 customers, all tourists, at the shop on a good afternoon. They would have employees on both cash registers whenever they were open. 

“Right now because of the storm? We can hardly open up one register,” he said.

On a recent weekday in Cherokee, there were lots of empty parking spaces at stores and restaurants. That wouldn’t be the case if this were a normal year.

Weekend business has been good at the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in town, according to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. But tourism is far from what it’s been in recent years.

Claude Van Order made the trek from South Carolina to Cherokee with his family recently. He said his faith motivated him to come after Helene.

“We are firm believers that the Lord is going to help people more than we can. And God is much more powerful than us. And he can do things that we can’t do. And we believe he sent us here to help out,” he said.

Helene’s floodwaters are gone. People are beginning to rebuild their lives and mourn the 103 who died, according to the state's tally. It will take time to gauge the extent of the economic damage from the dramatic drop in tourism after the storm.