As the death toll from Hurricane Helene climbs across southern Appalachia, a painful truth has emerged from the devastation: The region wasn’t ready for the storm, despite being warned for years of potential catastrophic flooding.
And it might not be ready for the next disaster, either.
Few people in western North Carolina have flood insurance, leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin in the wake of disasters such as Helene. And the state has devoted relatively little of its federal funding for disaster protection in its western region, which is often considered less vulnerable to extreme weather than the coast.
That’s despite the fact that western North Carolina’s flood and landslide risks are rising as global temperatures climb, hurricanes strengthen and other extreme rainfall events intensify, scientists warn. That means disasters such as Helene, previously almost unthinkable, may keep happening in the coming decades.
