The power of water. Today was a rough one. 

To preface, I’ve been entirely caught up in the chaotic whirlwind in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, whether it be with my journalist hat on interviewing flood victims or simply being a distraught resident of Western North Carolina. 

No book review today. Instead, some words about the importance of words — yours.

If you’re reading these words and live in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, or parts of Georgia and South Carolina, then you survived the Great Flood of 2024.  

To the Editor:

I am concerned about the effects of “Project 2025” — the Republican playbook for a second Trump administration — on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Project 2025 aims to change how federal agencies operate, and it could harm NOAA’s ability to do its work. 

Kevin Ensley and Brandon Rogers, respectively chair and vice chair of the Haywood County Board of Commissioners, both ran for reelection last in 2020 amid unprecedented economic challenges and a contentious national election. It’s little different this time.  

On Oct. 10, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan joined North Gov. Roy Cooper, Sen. Thom Tillis, Rep. Chuck Edwards, Asheville Mayor Esther E. Manheimer and local officials to assess federal and state recovery efforts in response to Hurricane Helene. 

The National Park Service continues to assess conditions and address damage following the impacts from Hurricane Helene in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park experienced substantial damage particularly in North Carolina, including Balsam Mountain, Big Creek and Cataloochee Valley. 

Early October, and these mountains are already beginning to put on their glorious garments of autumn. A splash of red here or orange there, the green sleeves of many trees shading to yellow. In just a few weeks, we will be treated to that familiar splendor that beckons tens of thousands of people to get in their cars every year and drive for hours or even days just to get a glimpse of it. 

On the morning of Sept. 27, as rain fell steadily from the pre-dawn sky, Travis Donaldson took a drive around the eastern end of Haywood County. Donaldson, the county’s emergency services director, made a lap around all the appropriate areas, finishing up in Cruso with the intention of turning around and heading back toward Waynesville, where an emergency operations center had already been set up. 

Let’s not sugarcoat it anymore. To call it “misinformation” is, in itself, misinformation. Let’s just call it what it is — straight-up lies, of the sort that would earn you a whoopin’ by meemaw if you repeated them to her face instead of spreading them from behind a keyboard like a coward. 

Where once were surging floodwaters, now elected representatives from both the federal and state level are pouring into Western North Carolina and Haywood County, touring damaged areas, talking to local officials about needs and thanking first responders for their service to their communities.