Lake Lure Trailer Show and Lake Lure Recovery Update……..
My greetings to everyone as we are enjoying the summer season, and I hope that you experienced a wonderful Fourth of July celebration with family and friends!
This is a longer update to share and I appreciate your time to read through and visit the different links that are included.
Our recent Trailer Show at Lake Lure was a special opportunity to give support to the Town, the Inn, Chimney Rock, and other businesses. It was a warm weekend with bright sunshine for sure, but we enjoyed each other’s company along with the many people who stopped by to visit. The setting for the boats at the entrance of the Inn was perfect, and the photos are in the link below.
Sonya Ledford-Pitts and the staff at the Inn were very accommodating, especially when considering what everyone has been through. We were delighted to be there and for their support.
Significant recovery progress has been made and we were especially grateful that Town Commissioner David DiOrio attended our Friday evening dinner. He shared many different aspects of the storm’s immediate impact, and how the recovery steps have unfolded so far. His thorough answers and explanations to questions were sincerely appreciated by everyone. 
The amount of silt that came down with the debris is astounding. The earth moving process is very extensive and below are some of the key points that we could all see, and learn more about.
- The recovery project at Lake Lure is the largest undertaking by the Army Corps in the nation. The estimated cost will be $183 million.
- From the point where the original river enters the lake, the silt removal extends out approximately ¾ of a mile. A circular path has been created allowing the articulated heavy equipment to make a loop…..be loaded by excavators……and then return to the silt mound where additional large excavators load the dump trucks as they back in to the chutes
- To transfer all of this silt material, dump trucks from many areas are working every day from 7am to 7pm to move 22 to 25 tons per load. They have a 2-hour round trip to the landfill in Enoree SC.
- On any given day 140 trucks are working to complete an average of 330 loads. Every truck has at least one drop axle and many have two or three. This is an enormous project as the channel of
the river is restored, and the silt that washed out into the lake is removed. - To make all of this work feasible, divers installed a valve in the dam so that the lake could be lowered 30ft or approximately 35% of the maximum depth. This is the lowest that the lake has ever been which helps the silt dry for more efficient removal
- Amazingly, the divers found that the wooden scaffolding that was used in the original dam construction so long ago is still there. The assumption was that it would decay over time, and it was a surprise to see that it’s still in place. The lower levels have also revealed more history of the lake with boats and vehicles that have been exposed. Many can tell interesting stories.
- The bay where our show is held will be last excavation in the project. A trench was dug to drain the water and some grass is actually growing there, but the hope is that the silt will dry more before the removal begins.
- As you may remember, across the bay from the Inn is Morse Park. The community has done an excellent job of restoring this area and making it comfortable to walk the nature trail and observe the large removal operations.
- Decisions are being made about the main marina, and the associated building / gas dock where we usually register for the show. The concrete ramp withstood the storm. All of the damaged boats have been removed, and the dock that we use for the show is across the bay at the base of the trees.
- When one arrives at the lake initially it is stunning to see how far down it is at this time, but also very inspiring to see the progress and teamwork that continues in the restoration process.
- Turning to Chimney Rock and Bat Cave beyond, a tremendous road building project has restored access up river.
- The re-construction continues to make progress where buildings survived. The photo link below will show the remarkable transformation of the CR shop interiors by volunteers who are donating their time. Some owners whose homes were badly damaged have offered to have volunteers take anything that can be re-purposed. These items are part of the reconstruction.
- Our Chapter continues to support the community through Spokes of Hope who have been there with many other charities from the beginning. SOH is directly involved in the Chimney Rock reconstruction process.
- After reserving tables and chairs for our Chapter’s future needs, we donated the remainder to support the many volunteers who come to assist. Our Chapter trailer has been refurbished and I was able to travel up to Bat Cave to unload our donation. They were very grateful and expressed their sincerest appreciation. This was really needed, and significantly impactful for them.
- From a personal perspective, the amount of damage and rock that has accumulated through the storm can be overwhelming to see driving up and back from Bat Vace. Photos in the link below can give you a sense of how significant this is.
The Town of Lake Lure website is: townoflakelure.com. They do an excellent job of updating the recovery progression, giving specific statistics and clearly explaining the process. You can click on the red banner at the top of the page to review the storm recovery updates.
On YouTube, there are several good sites that give aerial drone updates and other perspectives. Please simply enter Lake Lure Recovery and you will see many channels come up.
As you scroll down through, please note one posted 3 weeks ago titled Century-Old Mystery Solved During Hurricane Clean Up by WXLV-TV. It is very interesting to watch.
We sincerely hope that we can return in the Spring or 2026, and we will continue to support the community where our Chapter was founded in 1986.
My sincerest than you for taking the time to read through this longer, but important message.
Respectfully,
Steve
CLICK HERE to view photos from the event
