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After the Storm: Podcast Series Looks At Life Two Years After Florence

Gloria Walters is a survivor of both Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. A podcast series called "Storm Stories" explores her story of recovery and others following Hurricane Florence.
Gloria Walters is a survivor of both Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. A podcast series called "Storm Stories" explores her story of recovery and others following Hurricane Florence.
Gloria Walters is a survivor of both Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. A podcast series called "Storm Stories" explores her story of recovery and others following Hurricane Florence.
Credit Laura Bratton
Gloria Walters is a survivor of both Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. A podcast series called "Storm Stories" explores her story of recovery and others following Hurricane Florence.

Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina on Sept. 14, 2018. Two years later, homes and livelihoods are still on the mend. In Craven County, where the city of New Bern was devastated by flooding from the hurricane, disaster recovery groups are still trying to get assistance to nearly 1,400 households affected by the storm. A podcast series called “Storm Stories” focuses on the people and places who may never be the same after the hurricane.

Host Frank Stasio talks about stories of recovery and resilience after Hurricane Florence with Laura Bratton, audio producer and co-director of Shoresides.

In 14 episodes, “Storm Stories” explores individual stories of recovery and difficult decision-making, as well as broader topics like housing and the pandemic’s effect on rebuilding. The series is produced and hosted by Laura Bratton, the co-director of Shoresides, a journalism project focused on reporting in rural coastal North Carolina, and a contributor to WNYC and YR Media's 18-29 Now project. Host Frank Stasio talks with Bratton about the series and her work with communities still in recovery from Florence.

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Kaia Findlay is a producer for The State of Things, WUNC's daily, live talk show. Kaia grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a household filled with teachers and storytellers. In elementary school, she usually fell asleep listening to recordings of 1950s radio comedy programs. After a semester of writing for her high school newspaper, she decided she hated journalism. While pursuing her bachelor’s in environmental studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, she got talked back into it. Kaia received a master’s degree from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism, where she focused on reporting and science communication. She has published stories with Our State Magazine, Indy Week, and HuffPost. She most recently worked as the manager for a podcast on environmental sustainability and higher education. Her reporting passions include climate and the environment, health and science, food and women’s issues. When not working at WUNC, Kaia goes pebble-wrestling, takes long bike rides, and reads while hammocking.