After the Deluge
October 24, 2024 at 06:30PMTransplants, retirees, and second-homers thought western North Carolina would be a refuge from the ravages of climate change. Hurricane Helene thought otherwise. “The mistake of labeling Appalachia as a climate haven is the latest chapter of a long history, wherein Americans project exploitative fantasies onto the region without paying much attention to the realities of the place and the people who live here,” two professors at Appalachian State University write. “Appalachia can’t be a haven for anyone, newcomers or otherwise, if there is no care ethic, no sustainable infrastructure, no forward-thinking leadership, no deep respect for its complexities.” In diary format, the professors recount their experience of the storm and its aftermath:
Monday, September 30
Our friend Mark texts. He and his family are leaving town. They heard exchanges of gunfire in the woods behind their house. After some debate, we decide to stay, locking our gate for the first time in seven years.
We eat the last unspoiled food from our freezers, desperate to get to our most prized dishes and ingredients. At the bottom, we find bags of vegetables from our past gardens. The work that went into preserving them suddenly hits us. Amending the soil, setting up irrigation, sourcing uncommon seeds, tending, weeding, harvesting, chopping, freezing.
Using firewood, we grill the ungrillable, frozen waffle fries and broccoli tater tots.
Our friend Miles tells us about a Victorian house on the Watauga River. It survived the infamous 1940 flood, and the former inhabitants marked the high water point on the wall. Helene’s floodwaters rose six inches above it.
We hear that helicopters have dropped body bags into isolated hollers. They wait, circle back, and airlift out the dead.
Our heads fill up with words. We don’t know what to do with them.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/10/24/after-the-deluge/
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