Neighbors help neighbors in wake of deadly storm
Suspended in some brush off the South Fork of the New River, a red canoe with a heart spray-painted on it has become a symbol of perseverance for the people of Todd, North Carolina.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic winds and more than 40 trillion gallons of rainfall is now part of our identity in the South.
Help the South recover from Hurricane Helene.
In some areas of the region, at least 30 inches of rain fell over three days, washing out roads, bridges, and causing landslides and floods that have wiped out entire neighborhoods and business districts. Tens of thousands of trees fell, taking powerlines with them and blocking emergency crews. Hundreds of thousands of people have been without power and access to running water — some for weeks.
With more than 200 lives lost and people still missing, this has been the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in which 1,392 people died.
While it’s hard to measure the true impact of bearing witness to an unprecedented natural disaster, we know many of the people and places in our region will never be the same. It’s also a sobering reminder that climate change is here, and the only way we will tackle it is together.
Alongside heartbreaking stories of survival and loss, we’ve seen people across our region come together as communities to keep each other safe and start the long road to recovery. We documented a few of those moments from across the South, including a look at the work on the ground from some of SELC’s own staff.
Helene hits home
Around midnight after the storm made landfall, Sarah Caldwell’s stomach was in knots as she watched video after video of her hometown under the deluge of Hurricane Helene’s merciless rain and flooding.
Social media was a periscope into the eye of the storm for people across the world. But as a western North Carolina native from the small, rural community of Todd, the haunting images felt like a call home for Caldwell, who currently lives in Charlottesville and works as SELC’s foundation relations officer.
So the next morning, she and her husband stuffed their sprinter van with as much food, water, and supplies as they could collect and started heading South.
Caldwell can recall a significant flood many years ago that rose all the way up to a long driveway before her house. This time, though, the water was sloshing up and over her family’s mailbox, and dangerous debris — including a 12-passenger van that landed in their pasture — was swept rapidly downstream.
“I’m angry because I’ve been learning about climate change since college and I know it’s a thing scientists understood in the ‘70s,” she says. “I’ve also always viewed home, and much of Appalachia, as a climate refuge. Now I’ve become aware that no one is immune from the impacts of climate change.”
When the couple eventually stopped at a Walmart in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to load up on more relief supplies, a modest man eyeing their caravan of overflowing shopping carts insisted on donating a $100 bill freshly dug out of his wallet. Two women who also observed them shopping expressed gratitude knowing several boxes of Depends would soon be in the hands of people who need them.
“They remembered,” one was heard saying. Caldwell’s eyes swell remembering the moment.
These glimpses of humanity can feel shrouded by the immeasurable loss the storm has caused, but they are a key piece of understanding who we are in the South.
“You hear about Appalachian resilience. I’m cautious about using that term because I don’t think Appalachians should be forced to be resilient,” says Caldwell. “In this sense, though, the Appalachian resilience, community support, and culture of neighbor helping neighbor was on display. I’m so glad I got to be a part of it.”
Neighbor helping neighbor
Just north of Boone, this quiet pocket of western North Carolina is a special spot known for its natural allure. It sustains itself almost entirely on outdoor recreation and ecotourism, which are just fancy names for the human instinct to relax, connect, and have fun outside.
But regardless of the local economy, when a hurricane supercharged by climate change rips up your town – indiscriminately cutting people off from emergency services and leaving many without access to essentials for survival – everything is at stake and the recovery efforts need to begin as soon as possible.
Upon arrival in Todd, it was clear to Caldwell that work on the ground was already off to a good start. It was also unsurprising to see who had emerged to lead the local recovery effort.
Some people say partners Kelly McCoy and Renata Dos Santos are the “heart and soul,” of the New River. As owners of Rivergirl Fishing Company, they’re known ambassadors of outdoor recreation, river conservation, and experts on fishing and floating the popular waterway.
In response to Hurricane Helene, they’ve cleaned miles of river, organized and lead chainsaw crews, helped fill driveways, managed the food bank, and likely taken the lead on countless other logistics. After sustaining significant damage to their own shop in the storm, neighbors have started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help these two community pillars rebuild.
They know how to be stewards – of both the people and places they care deeply about.
Sarah Caldwell, Foundation Relations Officer
The number of relief volunteers these women have coordinated, and the number of folks who have showed up to help, is, “remarkable,” she adds. The stories are endless.
Preparing for a climate out of control
A few hours away in Asheville, SELC’s office was among those without power and water – as were so many of our friends, family, and colleagues in the area. Managing Attorney Patrick Hunter describes the uneasiness of not being in contact with colleagues and loved ones for days.
“Getting those messages after not hearing back from someone for a few days was pretty heavy in some instances,” he says.
After ensuring safety for his family, Hunter jumped in to move the local recovery efforts forward, unpacking eighteen-wheelers full of bottled water and distributing it to neighbors in need.
“The look on peoples’ faces or the hugs they give you when you’re handing out waters is pretty hard to forget,” Hunter adds.
Across the South, some communities of color and those with low wealth – which historically face the most pollution and environmental destruction – still lack power and water nearly three weeks after the storm hit.
Extreme impacts of Hurricane Helene in Asheville are a “wake-up call” for the environmental attorney.
“This has gotten me to think about resilience in a different way,” says Hunter. “It makes me understand the need for climate mitigation even more because we aren’t just getting ready for a harsher environment. We’re getting ready for an environment where we can’t adequately prepare for what is to come.”
Knowing there will be future climate impacts we can’t foresee and consequences we didn’t anticipate, Hunter adds, “We desperately need to get new measures in place to help people deal with them better.”
From influencing federal and state policy to pitching in with our neighbors, SELC staff are committed to doing our part to help our communities recover from unprecedented natural disasters and – to the best of our ability – help the South and beyond brace for what’s to come from a climate out of control.
In this unpredictable moment in history, know that we have your back – because looking out for each other is what Southerners do.