Closures from storm damage could lead to supply-chain bottlenecks — and price increases — for the chips used in smartphones, computers and cars.

Operations at a quartz mine in western North Carolina have been shut down for more than five days after Hurricane Helene dumped 2 feet of rain on the town of Spruce Pine, washing out roads and cutting power to an area with an industry critical to semiconductor manufacturing across the world.

The facilities in Spruce Pine, now isolated and imperiled by Helene’s floods, are a vital node in the supply chain of smartphones, computers and other electronics.