HGTV’s Jenny Marrs ‘Heartbroken’ Over Family Getaway Devastated by Hurricane

People across the southeast United States continue to dig out of the rubble left behind by Hurricane Helene — a “monster storm” that made landfall on September 26, 2024, killing at least 227 and devastating towns in six states, per the Associated Press. On October 4, HGTV star Jenny Marrs shared her grief over a decimated area of North Carolina that served as her favorite family getaway growing up.

“My childhood memories are inextricably tied to this quaint ski town tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina,” Marrs wrote in an online essay and social media posts, alongside throwback photos from her family’s trips to Beech Mountain.

Marrs shared that watching the devastation on TV from her home in Arkansas, she’s felt “heartbroken, helpless and grief-stricken” about the devastation in Beech Mountain and so many other communities and urged her fans to do what they can to support organizations dedicated to swiftly helping those impacted.

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Jenny Marrs Shares Family Memories & Launches Special Fundraiser for Relief Organization

Marrs shared a portion of her essay on social media, recalling some of her favorite memories of Beech Mountain, where her grandparents owned a cabin for 20 years.

Writing that her family would drive 12 hours to Beech Mountain twice a year, Marrs recalled how she and her siblings would “set out to explore imaginative lands in the forest for hours each day” and “hike the endless trails off the Blue Ridge Parkway and eat picnic lunches perched on a boulder while we dipped our feet in picturesque streams.”

“Everything I’ve learned about adventure and the importance of time away together, I learned there on that mountain,” Marrs wrote in her Substack essay.

Beech Mountain was hit hard by Hurricane Helene and officials said in an October 5 update that the area still does not have operating water, power, or sewage systems and remains under a nightly curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Though Marrs said she’s felt “helpless” in the wake of the hurricane’s devastation, she wrote that she’s found comfort in “stories of Hope” like “neighbors helping neighbors and civilians donating their time and resources to serve on rescue missions in the remote mountain towns inaccessible by road.”

“The people there on the ground doing the work of search and rescue and distributing immediate supplies like medicine, food and water are saving lives,” she wrote, and shared four organizations she recommended her followers support — Samaritan’s Purse, Convoy of Hope, Mercy Chefs, and Cajun Navy Relief.

On October 6, Marrs posted a social media video in which she said that for the next week, their family’s Marrs Mercantile will donate 15% of all proceeds to Samaritan’s Purse from sales of her book, House + Love = Home, which will be autographed by her, and its companion candles and handmade mugs. Those who participate in the fundraiser will also receive a Berry Farm hat signed by her husband, Dave Marrs, she said.

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Other HGTV Stars Have Shared Impact of Hurricane Helene

Another HGTV star and friend of the Marrs, “Home Town” patriarch Ben Napier, shared his own recollections of family getaways in western North Carolina via an Instagram post on September 29, as he and his wife Erin Napier watched reports of the devastation there following Hurricane Helene. He, too, shared organizations where people could donate funds.

“Growing up, the Smokies of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee were heaven for my brothers and me,” he wrote. “The first vacation I can remember was to this part of our great country. I went to church camp at @lakejunaluska every summer, and continued as a youth minister.”

Meanwhile, “100 Day Dream Home” stars Mika and Brian Kleinschmidt live in Tampa Bay, Florida, near other communities hit hard by the hurricane, and shared on social media that they were spending the week helping with relief efforts. She also revealed that the hotel they renovated in 2023 on their spinoff, “100 Day Dream Home: Beachfront Hotel” was “completely destroyed” in the hurricane.

In addition, at least one of the “Rock the Block” houses transformed during the show’s most recent season also sustained significant damage, according to HGTV personality Sarah Bauemler.

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