Rethinking Resilience: The tools, skills and networks helping WNC prepare for future disasters

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, people and organizations found themselves hurled into new situations, forced to learn new skills to ensure their own survival. Community centers, churches and fire departments flung open their doors, and for months, they buzzed with activity.

Altars became covered in folded clothes; spare rooms became repositories for tools and equipment; neighbors quickly learned how to strip homes to the studs and developed networks for bringing resources to one another.

Now, two years later, people are trying to turn these ad hoc spaces and skills – which supported people through loss of power, water, internet and other crucial infrastructure – into more permanent fixtures of disaster response.

For the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, BPR reporters Katie Myers and Laura Hackett look at how Helene became a jumping-off point for local people to build community, connections, and skills. Read below to see how your neighbors are getting ready for future climate impacts - in ways that are useful in normal times, too.