Two Years After Helene: What Does Recovery Really Look Like?

Two years after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, the rebuilding isn't finished.

I've seen that recovery firsthand as the founder of Patriot Relief, working alongside volunteers and nonprofit organizations helping families across Western North Carolina. There are still people waiting for permanent housing, still communities dealing with damaged infrastructure and still volunteers showing up with building materials because somebody needs them.

This week on From the Rooftops, Stephanie Johnson of Rebuilding Hollers Foundation is joining me to talk about what she is seeing in Yancey and Mitchell counties. Rebuilding Hollers provides building materials and supplies to families whose homes were damaged or destroyed during Helene, and Stephanie has stayed in this work long after the storm disappeared from most national headlines.

I'll also dig into a recent NPR report from North Carolina's Outer Banks, where coastal erosion is putting homeowners in an extraordinary position. Some homeowners can't afford to relocate or demolish threatened houses, while flood insurance may provide coverage if the home eventually collapses.

These stories are happening at opposite ends of North Carolina, but they raise some of the same questions about property ownership, disaster recovery, insurance and what happens when a family's home is caught between a natural disaster and the systems designed to help them recover.

I've also written more about the two-year anniversary of Helene and what I've witnessed through Patriot Relief in my latest Bricks and Grit Substack, "Two Years After the Mountains Gave Way."

Join me Thursday at 9:00 AM ET for From the Rooftops.

Learn more and help:

PatriotRelief.org

RebuildingHollers.com

Chapters

0:00 Welcome and the impact of Hurricane Helene