ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated the Carolinas, businesses in western North Carolina are still struggling to recover. A recent poll of 700 small business owners in the region revealed that most are earning less than they did before the storm. Researchers have noted that some of the poll results are alarming.

A tropical wave was forecast to move off the west coast of Africa in the next day or two. Thereafter, some gradual development of the wave is possible during the middle to latter part of next week while it moves generally west-northwestward across the central tropical Atlantic.