Western North Carolina business owners recovering from Helene [Video]

SWANNANOA, N.C. (WGHP) — Swannanoa business owners are making progress cleaning up after western North Carolina was devastated by Helene.

“We are not OK … There is progress. We are moving forward. We have not sat still. We haven’t stopped since this started,” Jenica Grooms said.

She and her husband lost their businesses in Swannanoa.

Cell phone service, power and some water have returned to their small town, but the Grooms’ income, business and livelihood are gone.

Their business is a pile of debris like many others across Swannanoa. Business owners are now looking at the mess and trying to figure out what comes next and how to pick up the pieces. But things just got a little more complicated as the Small Business Administration says they’re temporarily out of funds, which leaves all these business owners confused about what to do next, and all they can do is wait.

But that doesn’t mean they sit still. Grooms spends …