Historic Watauga County church raised for repairs after Helene flooding

WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C. — A historic church in Watauga County has been raised to make repairs following damage from Hurricane Helene.

During the storm, more than two feet of water flooded the Valle Crucis United Methodist Church.

The entire church, which was built back in the 1850s, was raised four feet to make repairs to the foundation.

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The general contractor told Channel 9 they are hoping that once the project is completed, flooding from the Watauga River will never get into the building again.

“We took our time and made the decision to fix it the right way so it’ll be here for another hundred years, hopefully,” said Roy Hamby with Hamby Construction.

For now, the church’s congregation is worshiping at another church. The project is expected to be completed by next spring.

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