On September 27th, 2024 Hurricane Helene struck Western North Carolina and the Appalachian region.

King Street looked less like a quaint stroll and more like the rushing rapids of Watauga River, minute by minute, more and more water accumulated. Everything was grey, it was raining sideways, and the wind was so strong it felt like an earthquake. Sharing images* on local Facebook groups and other social media, seeing the various POVs across region initiated a collective conscious this was going to get worse before it got better. All of the devastation accompanied with sirens through all hours of the day and night, military convoys, helicopters and airplanes, it felt like a war zone. The amount of water was biblical, to say the least; roads disintegrated and morphed into waterfalls, houses slid off their foundations and were carried for miles, landslides and sinkholes changing the entire topography of rivers and mountains, and hundreds of thousands of trees fallen, and too many lives lost.

Some say that a second flood came after Helene: the amount of donations and people that arrived to help from near and far. It showed me a part of our nature that I felt was lost over the past decade, that instinctually we need to bond with and rely on the people within our local communities. Climate change, social media, incessant consumption, capitalistic values… it was never normal to live as we do in society today. Hurricane Helene was what compelled us to be the change we want to see, to rebuild stronger, and to be gentle with ourselves and our environment. I don’t want to envision a world where we wait for catastrophes to unite us. 

These images were taken documenting damage in surrounding areas of the High Country, highlighting the interconnectedness of a grieving community that remained resilient. I have struggled to compose my thoughts and feelings regarding the immense loss and struggle that was caused by Helene, I gained hope and optimism, newfound resilience and faith that we will do what we can to give our best efforts making the world a better place for one another.

To be continued…

-Lauren