Mountain strong: North Carolina marks the 2-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene

Before there was Helene, there was Katrina.

The destructive Category 5 hurricane that devastated New Orleans in 2005 convinced Alex Webber to move from Louisiana to the mountains of western North Carolina.

Webber thought she’d found a climate-safe area in the picturesque town of Marshall until 2024, when Hurricane Helene brought catastrophic flooding and landslides to her backyard.

This weekend marks the two-year anniversary of Helene, and Webber brushed away tears as she recounted 24 months of trying to rebuild the life she had before the storm arrived.

“Our business was completely gone,” said Webber. “At home, our driveway was destroyed and that was $7,000 to rebuild.”

Webber said claims made to FEMA and her insurance company were turned down.

“We came back through Go Fund Me,” Webber said in a call with reporters organized by the nonprofit Extreme Weather Survivors. “It was almost easier in Katrina.”

Fellow Marshall resident Gina Heath says she’s grateful for the parts of town that have made a comeback. But it’s hard not to think about the loss. Twenty-five of the 27 homes on her street were lost to Helene.

“After the hurricane hit in late September, most of us were not able to do income-generating work,” said Heath. “For me, I was juggling, supporting, getting my kids through a very uncertain time, creating normalcy however I could.”

Heath said she thought FEMA would have a bigger presence on the ground in helping her community recover.

“Eventually, secular and religious nonprofits came and helped people to rebuild. We never got anything significant from FEMA,” said Heath.

Two years later, Heath said two-thirds of Marshall is thriving. Even though many municipal buildings, including Marshall’s century-old courthouse, remain untouched, she said she feels fortunate.

“Not every town in Western Carolina has that same story at this point,” said Heath.

Chronicling a slow recovery

Extreme Weather Survivors (opens in a new tab), a national network of individuals and families impacted by climate-fueled disasters, surveyed 300 North Carolina adults directly affected by Hurricane Helene.

What they found was that 1 in 4 still have not returned home, even though they plan to. Seventy-one percent personally know someone who is still struggling financially, nearly two years later. And 60% said they felt abandoned by the government during and after Hurricane Helene.

Webber said the one exception was Gov. Josh Stein.

“Our state governor has been coming in very quietly. He just comes in with his wife and checks on downtown,” said Webber. “He’s been seen around town multiple times. They’ll come for the weekend, no cameras.”

Stein has made numerous trips to the mountains in the months after Helene, while back in Raleigh the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) is facilitating a collaboration across state agencies to support the recovery, while also managing federal and state reporting requirements.