An aerial look at the quartz mines in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, taken prior to Tropical Storm Helene. Google Maps Two weeks after shutting down its Spruce Pine facilities ahead of Hurricane ...

An aerial look at the quartz mines in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, taken prior to Tropical Storm Helene. Google Maps Two weeks after shutting down its Spruce Pine facilities ahead of Hurricane ...

An aerial look at the quartz mines in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, taken prior to Tropical Storm Helene. Google Maps Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeast, causing major flooding and ...

An aerial look at the quartz mines in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, taken prior to Tropical Storm Helene. Google Maps The world’s main producer of high-purity quartz, a mineral crucial to the ...

Hurricane Helene tore through North Carolina over the weekend, causing widespread devastation. The storm has temporarily closed a one-of-a-kind mine in the town of Spruce Pine, and it could have ...

The remnants of Hurricane Helene ripped through the Western North Carolina mountain town of Spruce Pine last week, disrupting a quartz facility integral to the global production of solar panels and ...

In 2008, a fire at a Spruce Pine quartz refinery “temporarily brought production to a halt and impacted the market,” reported Global Risk Intel, a Washington D.C.-based consulting firm.

Other areas of the state reported more than 2 feet of rainfall, with Busick receiving nearly 31 inches and Spruce Pine recording 24.12 inches through 8 a.m. Saturday.