New landslide damages Shumont Road, threatens trail and waterway
Heavy rain triggered another slide on Shumont Road, adding fresh erosion and tree damage near Lake Lure just as Helene repairs were underway.
New rain-driven damage has hit the 300 block of Shumont Road in Buncombe County, setting back repairs that were already underway after Helene’s destruction and putting a nearby waterway and stretches of the H&H Trail at risk. Broad River Fire & Rescue shared photos of the latest slope failure, which officials said was triggered by heavy rainfall on May 27, 2026 near Lake Lure.
The newest landslide adds another layer of disruption to a road network still trying to recover from Tropical Storm Helene, which brought devastating flooding, landslides and widespread damage across Buncombe County in September 2024. In this case, fallen trees and erosion are threatening not just the road shoulder, but also access and stability around the trail corridor and the waterway below, both of which depend on slopes that remain vulnerable long after the first emergency cleanup.
That fragility is part of a much larger county recovery effort. Buncombe County and six municipal partners, the City of Asheville, Black Mountain, Montreat, Weaverville, Woodfin and Biltmore Forest, built a Helene Recovery Plan centered on 114 projects to rebuild housing, repair infrastructure, restore natural resources, strengthen disaster preparedness and support long-term resilience. In county planning, residents ranked infrastructure, including water, roads, bridges and telecommunications, as the top recovery priority, cited by 74% of survey participants.
County commissioners responded with more money last fall. On Oct. 21, 2025, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved a $14 million budget amendment for Helene recovery, with about $10.3 million set aside for landslides. County officials said much of that work is reimbursable, with 75% available up front once contracts begin, through FEMA and state funding.
For Shumont Road, the practical problem is immediate. Every new slope failure can complicate repair timelines, keep public works crews in and out of the same unstable corridor, and prolong the kind of stop-and-start disruption that nearby residents, emergency responders and utility crews have had to navigate since Helene. Broad River Fire & Rescue has repeatedly warned drivers about Shumont-area hazards in prior years, including downed trees and power lines, underscoring how often the area is exposed when storms hit.
The latest slide is another sign that the recovery on Buncombe’s mountain roads is still unfinished, and that some of the most fragile slopes can fail again before the first round of repairs is complete.
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