The river that runs through Asheville, North Carolina, is littered with artwork drifting downstream after deadly floods from Hurricane Helene decimated the mountain city's arts district, a linchpin of tourism in the area that some residents fear will never recover.

The future is unknown for RAD restaurants, coffee shops, breweries and more severely damaged by Tropical Storm Helene.

I don’t even know how to describe how I feel,” a gallery worker said. “I feel hopeless and helpless, like I need to be doing more to help other people.”

Through striking before-and-after images, see the vibrant River Arts District community marked by the harsh realities of devastation following Helene.

For many business owners in Asheville's River Arts District, the destruction is total due to the record floods.

The city and its artists were hard-hit by the storm that tore a deadly path of destruction from Florida through inland Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee.

Asheville's River Arts District, a tourism hub, faces ruin after Hurricane Helene's devastating floods. With art washed away and buildings destroyed, the community worries about the district's future,

David Sheldon, an artist who showcases his work in Asheville's famed River Arts District, escaped from Helene's devastation to Raleigh with his insulin-dependent cat.