When Hurricane Helene swept through western North Carolina, the mountains didn’t stop the storm — they trapped it. The result was a thousand-year flood that tore through Asheville and surrounding communities, washing away bridges, homes, and entire neighborhoods.
“I had 8 feet of water in my office, and the plant was ten to twelve feet underwater,” said Gary Hensley, an executive with Oldcastle, a buildings solutions company, just outside Asheville. “We lost power and internet for nearly a month. But I still consider myself lucky — a lot of people lost everything.”
Hensley’s office, though devastated, never gave in. “The structure itself held,” he said. “It’s built from concrete masonry. We stripped out the inside, cleaned the block and rebuilt right on the same foundation. That’s the block advantage — it stands up to the elements.”
Across Asheville’s Biltmore Village, floodwaters reached rooftops. Restaurants, hotels, and even the area’s famously ornate McDonald’s were destroyed. When rebuilding began, many chose masonry this time. “It’s incredibly strong and resilient, and in a place like this, it just makes sense,” Hensley said.
For Hensley and his team, the recovery went beyond rebuilding their plant. Oldcastle organized relief efforts, bringing food and supplies into communities still cut off by floodwaters. “Our plant was down, but our people weren’t,” Hensley said. “We used side-by-sides to reach families who hadn’t seen help in days.”
The spirit of resilience ran deep. Hensley’s son launched a nonprofit to rebuild the thousands of small bridges washed out across western North Carolina — connections that families still rely on today.
Disasters like Helene reveal more than nature’s power. They test what we build and what we’re built of. Concrete masonry doesn’t just withstand storms; it gives communities a way to recover faster and rebuild smarter.
“After Helene, people started rethinking what it means to build strong,” Hensley said. “Masonry has been around for thousands of years for a reason — it lasts.”
That’s the beauty of block: strength that stands the test of time — and the storm.
