The forest behind my house is already becoming something new, I notice, as I walk trails that used to be shady. With so many fallen giants, the floor now lies under open sky. I count sprouting acorns by the dozens, arching their necks and reaching for a new bonanza of sunlight. I have so many hopes for this place I love. Mostly that we’ll rise like these seedlings from our scoured landscape, blessed with the kindness we’ve shared with our neighbors and the will to extend our care to those who follow behind us on these paths.
~ Barbara Kingsolver
(Southern Living, May 2025, “The Heart of Appalachia”)
On September 27 last year Hurricane Helene tore through Appalachia, affecting the community in Virginia where author Barbara Kingsolver lives. It also devastated 29 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, which are part of the same geographic region. (The county where we live is in the Piedmont region.) For some reason I never mentioned this disaster on this blog last year, probably because I couldn’t process what I was learning about it in real time.
Our grandchildren had no school that day so we had planned to take them to the Carolina Tiger Rescue. The day before, the weather forecasters warned of torrential rain for our area but the tour is by reservation only and the website said it would happen rain or shine. So we were prepared and bought rain ponchos for the four of us. But that morning the Rescue cancelled the tour and we stayed home. I’m glad we didn’t risk getting caught in a flash flood on the roads. It rained a lot and we had two tornado warnings during the day, which sent us to hunker down in the bathroom, but thankfully we weren’t hit. The disruption to our lives was nothing compared to what was happening to our neighbors only a few hours away.
A year earlier in October, we had stayed for a weekend getaway in the beautiful town of Black Mountain. We had a wonderful time walking through the town, visiting Mount Mitchell, hiking the Balsam Nature Trail in the state park, and driving along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Little did we know Black Mountain would experience catastrophic flooding from the storm. Roads and bridges were damaged or washed away. The pictures we saw on the news were shocking and sobering. But since then the stories being shared of kind people helping one another have been heartwarming. I hope we can plan another visit some day.
However, the severely limited federal response under the current administration has been disturbing. According to our governor:
In addition to the $13.5 billion that I am requesting of Congress in new appropriations, North Carolina has yet to receive billions of dollars that Congress worked together on a bipartisan basis to appropriate last December. Just as I asked in February, I am urging federal agencies to take action to unlock those funds so we can put them to work as soon as possible where they are desperately needed.
We are grateful for every dollar that brings us a step closer to recovery, yet current federal financial support is not enough. In total, federal support amounts to approximately 9% of the total damage western North Carolina suffered. Many of the largest, most devastating storms, like Katrina, Maria, and Sandy, saw upwards of 70% of damage covered by federal funding, and from available historical data, the federal government has typically covered between 40 and 50 percent of costs caused by major hurricanes. The people of North Carolina deserve a fair shake, just like the residents of other states and territories.
~ Gov. Josh Stein
(Hurricane Helene Recovery, September 15, 2025, Federal Funding Request)
Hurricane Helene lives in my memory because a friend’s sister-in-law was killed by the storm. The SIL lost her footing when stepping outside her house and a flash flood swept her away. Horrifying, of course. But also has made me more aware of where hurricanes happen and how long it takes for regions to recover. Pity the federal government isn’t onboard with the needed funds.
What a frightening and terrible way for your friend’s sister-in-law to lose her life. I can’t imagine how awful this must have been for your friend. It’s chilling to think that 108 people in western NC lost their lives that day. And more than 125,000 families lost their homes. I’ve read it could take five to ten years for the region to recover, if support can be sustained.
So many natural disasters going on simultaneously in the United States today and yesterday’s natural disasters. Try to keep ourselves safe is all we can do.
Life is so precious and sadly, very precarious. As you say, all we can do is accept its uncertainty and do the best we can to take precautions and try to protect ourselves.
Since last month was the 20-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I watched several videos of the damage on social media, including a retrospective by Anderson Cooper about a man’s body laying on top of an upside down boat that he (Cooper) saw in the aftermath of Katrina. He said the image never left him, so he returned to interview the man’s family. I can’t imagine how scary a flash flood would be. A friend of mine lived in Richmond, Virginia and suffered a lot of damage due to Hurricane Isabel in 2003. I remember she e-mailed photos of the basement and her washer and dryer, hot water tank and furnace ruined. With climate change, they say all weather events like flash floods, hurricanes are like they are on steroids.
It never ceases to amaze me how the power of water is a double-edged sword. It is essential to life: if a drought continues long enough everything will die. And yet, it is an agent of death: a flash flood will drown everything in its path. Whenever a hurricane out in the Atlantic would send big waves to the shore I used to love to go to the beach in Westerly, Rhode Island, to see them crashing into the shore past the breakwaters. So much power! Spending time by the sea when the waves are gentle can be so healing but we risk our lives at other times when the same sea is in a different mood.
This is very true what you write here Barbara. Mother Nature can turn the waters into a force to be reckoned with so quickly. I always marvel at what a tsunami looks like from viewing it from above or when they have drones flying above – such powerful waves!
A few years back there were a couple of teenagers walking along a pier on Lake Michigan. You sometimes see pictures of the many big lighthouses on Lake Michigan – there are several and when it gets windy or stormy, the waves lap against the lighthouse and base something fierce, even with waves going up sometimes to the top of the lighthouse. The waves were high that night (12 feet … I just looked it up) and a wave rushed up and pulled the girl into the water and her body was never recovered. The teenaged boy ran for help right away, but it was too late – she was swept away. We have so many drownings in Michigan every Summer, but this one was on New Year’s Day (11:30 at night).
I’ve seen incredible pictures of some of those waves going over the lighthouses on Lake Michigan. A friend of mine was recently in Nova Scotia and posted a picture of this dire warning sign at Peggy’s Point Lighthouse:
DANGER! DEATH HAS OCCURRED HERE
Sudden High Waves Happen Without Warning, Even On Calm Days
Dark Rocks Are Slippery, Stay Far Back
Rescue Here Is Unlikely Due To Conditions
DON’T TAKE RISKS – LEAVE HERE ALIVE
The photos in Wintertime, with the iced-up lighthouses are just incredible. At work we had a client with a fleet of freighters in Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I remember the owner e-mailed us photos of the freighters that were not running as it was Winter, but there had been some wild waves that froze in place and the one freighter was almost totally covered in ice. That is a heck of a warning sign. I think I would admire and take photos of Peggy’s Point Lighthouse from afar (if not from my car)!
You’ve been here two years now. I can see the love you have for our state. A Kingsolver novel (probably Prodigal Summer) was one of the first books I read when I arrived here, to orient me to my new home.
There’s a lot to love here, Susan! Prodigal Summer is one of my favorite Kingsolver novels. I read it many years ago and sometimes listen to the audio book again. Flight Behavior is another one of hers that I love, also set in Appalachia.
A horror that will take a long time to recover from, and the lack of gov’t assistance is unpardonable.
They think it will take at least five to ten years, even if they get the assistance so desperately needed.
I believe it. 🙁 🙏🏼
This year, we’ve been fortunate in having a relatively quiet season for hurricanes; sadly, too often, it’s been anything but quiet. I hate seeing all the destruction of such natural beauty, and I know how hard it can be to get needed help. Here’s hoping this aid comes along soon!
It’s been kind of strange this year watching all the tropical storms and hurricanes forming in the open Atlantic and then turning northeast and none of the nine of them making landfall so far. How long will our luck hold, I wonder? Sadly, the federal government isn’t motivated to help it citizens any more.