In the wake of two devastating floods just three years apart, Western North Carolina’s resiliency didn’t come from government agencies. While FEMA and state emergency teams provided vital aid, three regional nonprofits — Dogwood Health Trust, Mountain Projects and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina — stepped beyond their missions to fill critical gaps. 

I’ll never get that smell out of my memory. The stench of mud and rotting debris. Most of you reading this will immediately know what I’m referring to — the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024. And yet, that stench was already in my stored subconscious, seeing as I first encountered it with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fred in 2021. 

The first time I saw Josh Copus post-Hurricane Helene was when I was allowed, as a journalist, to mosey on into downtown Marshall and scope out the absolute destruction of the small mountain town for myself. This was in the depths of last winter. The silence of the season and the lingering remnants of the devastation conjured on Sept. 27, 2024, was still real and daunting. 

Eligible livestock producers will receive disaster recovery assistance through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire to help offset increased supplemental feed costs due to a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire in calendar years 2023 and 2024.

When Hurricane Helene unleashed more than a foot of rain across Haywood County in less than 24 hours last September, floodwaters swept through homes, businesses and infrastructure, leaving behind damage that local officials quickly recognized would take years to repair. 

On a recent sunny afternoon in Hot Springs, it was almost impossible to find a parking spot within vicinity of Big Pillow Brewing in downtown. And, for the tiny mountain town, this was a joyous sight compared to what the community has gone through as of late. 

Equipment and personnel have arrived in Haywood County to begin removing debris at 22 sites along the Pigeon River. 

The initial focus of the debris removal will be on things like downed trees, appliances and vehicles that, if dislodged and sent downstream, could cause further catastrophic damage.

A team of students from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics has developed an artificial intelligence-based flood modeling system that could transform the way communities predict, and therefore respond, to extreme weather events. 

To the Editor:

This just in! President Trump is recommending everyone in WNC be moved out to somewhere else (maybe Gaza?) until the white horses can come to our rescue and fix this place.

In the months before Hurricane Helene, the Town of Waynesville initiated a comprehensive stormwater master planning process. Now that the project is about at the halfway point, consultants checked in with Town Council to give a progress update on some capital projects that could help mitigate damage during the region’s next extreme weather event.