Seven weeks have passed since Helene, a powerful storm, unleashed its fury upon western North Carolina, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, characterized by devastating floods and landslides.
The scenes in some communities are still heartbreaking. Fortunately, our entire state has been coming together to help.
It’s the difficult scenes of homes being washed off concrete pads and families forced to live in tents that have inspired two volunteers we met to travel from the coast to help western North Carolina residents.
While covering an event to help clean up areas around the French Broad River in Asheville, we ran into volunteers Alison Styron and Amy Morgan from Craven and Carteret Counties. The two know all about destruction that tropical systems cause. Catastrophic flooding across eastern North Carolina from Hurricane Florence in 2018 is still fresh in their minds.
“My grandma lost her home and everything. We understand the emotional and physical toll it takes on individuals and the community,” Styron told us, while discussing Florence.
And, they remember the help they received after Florence from residents of western North Carolina.
“That’s the North Carolinian spirit. We take care of our own and I know we are going to continue to do that,” Morgan said.
It’s a spirit that has helped our state rebuild from many more storms than just Florence and Helene. Styon also recalled the devastation Dorian caused on the Outer Banks.
“Oh my goodness - Ocracoke - just in no time, just wiped that place out. So, I personally went over and helped with some efforts over there. You just see people with the streets just lined up with their belongings. It’s awful,” he said.
As catastrophic storms become more common in a warming climate, that North Carolina spirit of helping others may be needed more and more.
Morgan pointed out, “You can’t keep coming back in shorter time periods and be able to one —have the energy to face it and two — the financial ability to recover from it. It’s just devastating.”
Hurricanes are producing heavier rainfall due to climate change, and warmer oceans are fueling stronger storms. Recent research shows that’s contributing to more storms that rapidly intensify like Helene did in the Gulf of Mexico.
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