Speaker Mike Johnson tours Western NC, speaks on resources for small businesses [Video]

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (FOX Carolina) – Many businesses in Western North Carolina were completely wiped off the map 13 days after Helene ripped through the area. Some of the nation’s top leaders surveyed the damage Wednesday, offering advice about available resources.

“There are small business owners of every type taking a blow right now,” Jeremy Russell, and Asheville-based artist, said.

Russell’s studio was destroyed by Helene, and his employees are now out of work.

“I think my primary concern is, ‘How am I going to keep people fed and keep people employed long enough for the economy to come back,” he added.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senators Thom Thills and Ted Budd of North Carolina, and U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, toured some of the hardest hit areas.

“This probably has been what they refer to as a thousand-year event. It’s devastating,” Johnson said. “The families, the small …