No Shelter From the Storm
“The hollering went on for hours, barely audible over the roar of the thrashing French Broad River. ‘Bruce!’ people shouted from shore. One word was all Bruce Tipton could muster in response, and he repeated it agonizingly: ‘Help!’ Mr. Tipton, 75, was clinging to a tree, surrounded by a torrent of murky brown water that had just crushed his trailer home and flung him onto the tree. He was less than 50 yards from shore, but the way the river was moving, he seemed to be on a remote island.” Like so many stories of Helene’s destruction, this one ended in tragedy. NYT (Gift Article): For Hours, He Clung to a Tree and Cried for Help. But None Came.
+ “The city, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is elevated enough that extreme heat is still relatively rare. It’s nowhere near the coast, so sea level rise isn’t an issue. Asheville’s population is quickly growing, and one of the reasons is that people see it as a ‘safe’ city. One retired couple told the New York Times in 2022 that they’d chosen to move to Asheville after living in Florida—where they had to evacuate from hurricanes eight times—and California, where they faced drought and wildfires.” FastCo: Asheville has been called a ‘climate haven.’ There’s no such thing.
+ “A North Carolina city that is ground zero for climate science is now ground zero for a climate disaster those same scientists have been informing the public about for decades. Days of relentless flooding in part from Helene have reshaped Asheville’s Buncombe County, leaving dozens dead and many more stranded and in urgent need of supplies and resources. It’s also impacting the work of climate scientists there. Asheville ‘likely has more scientists working on climate change per capita than any other town or city in America.'”
+ “Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, the community of Spruce Pine, population 2,194, is known for its hiking, local artists and as America’s sole source of high-purity quartz. Helene dumped more than 2 feet of rain on the town, destroying roads, shops and cutting power and water. But its reach will likely be felt far beyond the small community.” It’s all about the quartz. NPR: A tiny town just got slammed by Helene. It could massively disrupt the tech industry.
