North Carolina Shows New Crises, Problems Keep Emerging Months After Disaster

Another byproduct of a climate disaster. Even people whose
homes were undamaged are facing homelessness. Closed
businesses mean unemployment and an inability to pay
rent in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. 

We were all shocked by the drama of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina back in September.

The water seemed more extreme than we've ever seen, wiping out entire neighborhoods, hillsides, towns, businesses. You see how high the floods got, and wonder how that was possible.  

No fewer than 103 people died just in North Carolina from Helene. Just unimaginable for a hurricane to do so much harm so far inland.

The headlines have faded some since the initial disaster.  We see glimpses of normality emerging. Water and other services in Asheville are up and running.  Many if not most of the hundreds of destroyed roads and highways are humming with traffic again. 

But new hurt keeps raining down on Helene victims. It's hitting those whose houses were destroyed, and those whose places never had a drop of water inside their living rooms during the storm. 

Some people are learning they can never go home again, and others are being kicked out of their homes into an uncertain future.

EVICTIONS

As the Washington Post reports, evictions are soaring in western North Carolina as people who lost their livelihoods in the storm can't pay their rent, and landlords are unable or unwilling to grant extensions to tenants who are in a real bind. 

Increased homelessness looms just as winter sets in. 

As WaPo reports: 

"From the time Buncombe County courts reopened in mid-October, at least 225 new eviction cases have been filed in the county, according to an analysis of court records by the North Carolina Tenants Union, which advocates for renters' rights. Filing s accelerated this month as people missed November rent deadlines, though some of the tenants represented in these numbers may have started missing payments before Helene."

Rents were high in the region before Helene.  Some housing stock washed away in the flooding, leaving even fewer potential rental units available.

Asheville and surrounding areas are a big tourist hub. The region missed its big fall foliage tourism season as the mountainous area was still in crisis mode and barring visitors as leaves burst into color in October and early November. 

Tourist-dependent businesses that weren't destroyed in the flood had to shut down, leaving many workers out of a job. Which meant they couldn't pay rent. 

Visitors are starting to trickle back into western North Carolina and a lot of businesses have reopened. But it will be months or years before that industry can be back to full throttle. The eviction crisis won't go away soon. 

This type of thing is happening elsewhere with greater frequency, as climate change makes storms wetter, windier and more intense. It might not always be on the scale of what western North Carolina is going through, but it still hurts the victims.

Even here in Vermont, there's a crisis brought on by flooding over the past two years or so.

As Grist reported back in October, our flooding exacerbated Vermont's housing crisis. It put hundreds if not thousands of housing units out of commission, at least temporarily.

And people who wanted to move out of homes in flood danger zones were priced out of the market by sky high housing prices.

Back in North Carolina, there are mounting calls for an eviction moratorium. The moratorium drive is coming from a broad based group of advocates, business leaders and political leaders. The disaster has caused a spike in job losses, since many businesses were destroyed, damaged or crippled by Helene. 

A number of people are in even more dire straights than eviction proceedings. Some people are still living in unheated campers and even tents as winter weather presses in.  This isn't going to go away anytime soon.

Volunteer groups continue to try. Church groups, builders and of course Habitat for Humanity are building lots of tiny homes to offer to people who lost their homes in Helene. Sure, tiny homes are by definition small, but at least they're solid roofs over people's heads, with heat and running water. 

I guess these tiny houses are one positive climate change adaptation method, given that we're going to keep having disasters like this. 

LITERAL SHIFTING LANDSCAPES 

Hurricane Helene produced at least 2,000 landslides in western North Carolina. Many of those swept away homes, killing and injuring dozens of residents. 

To add insult to injury, people who had homes where landslides hit can't rebuild. It's too dangerous. What's left of the land is also worthless. 

As CBS News reports,  geologists are mapping the landslides and assessing where it's unsafe to rebuild. About 13 percent of the mountainous region in western North Carolina is prone to landslides and debris flows, and those places should not have homes or businesses built on them.  Geologist Jennifer Bauer has these risky areas designated as purple zones in her mapping. 

"There are many homes below the purple zones that could be impacted by future landslides, Bauer said. 

As storms get wetter and more intense with climate change, the risk of landslides grows with it.

Not just in North Carolina. Any mountainous or hilly area is prone to landslides and mudslides. It's not just a winter California thing.

The risk includes areas here in Vermont, where I live. The state saw no fewer than 82 landslides during the July, 2023 floods, eleven of which prompted immediate evacuations. One of the landslides swept aside vehicles on a road in Barre, though no serious injuries came out of that incident. 

The increase in extreme weather will keep surprising us with after effects of each disaster that will surprise us and complicate recovery from each event. 

I'm not sure what else to say about it, other than to bluntly say, get used to it. It will be a rough ride.