An Army National Guard member assists a resident with potable water in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 29 in Old Fort, N.C. (Photo: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Like many North Carolinians, I was deeply shaken by the intensity and destruction of Hurricane Helene.
As the director of Carolina Advocates for Climate, Health, Equity (CACHE), much of my work revolves around lifting up the fact that climate change is a public health emergency, and touches every aspect of our lives. CACHE is made up of public health practitioners, physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals across North Carolina. Health professionals serve on the front lines of climate change, whether it’s treating someone for heat-related illness, asthma, or illnesses related to poor water quality. We see firsthand how pollution warms our atmosphere; poisons our air, ground and water; and seeps into the everyday lives of our patients.
Hurricane Helene’s devastation in Western North Carolina is a reminder that there are no such things as “climate havens,” as Asheville was once declared. Helene hit our Appalachian region so hard in part because of rapid intensification, caused by warming oceans.
Communities in Western North Carolina will be reckoning with the public health aspect of recovery for months and years to come. Nearly 100,000 Asheville residents may not have access to water for weeks due to extensive damage to treatment facilities, water pipes, and roads. As a physician and public health expert, I know that cascading impacts from extreme weather events can reverberate for months and years to come. Lack of drinking water, access to health care, and transportation in the western region of the state will exacerbate an already heartbreaking situation. A whole-of-government and community-based approach will be crucial to preventing even more devastation.
I am grateful for the steps that our leaders across the state and country are taking to help our friends in Western North Carolina recover. President Biden, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Governor Cooper, and North Carolina state and local officials have done so much, aided by community members across the state who have pulled together to support our neighbors in the wake of this devastating tragedy. President Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for North Carolina, and FEMA approved disaster assistance for 24 counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. More than 900 FEMA personnel have been deployed in North Carolina alone.
President Biden also amended the disaster declarations for Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina so that the federal government would pay for 100% of certain categories of recovery costs, including debris removal, first responders, search and rescue, shelters, and mass feeding. These efforts will go a long way to help people as they rebuild their lives, yet there is so much more we can do to support these communities’ future climate resilience.
The Biden-Harris administration has already taken historic action through the clean energy plan to strengthen our country and North Carolina’s climate resilience. That includes $2.3 billion to FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, to help communities fight back against the worst climate impacts and investing in modernizing the electrical grid so that it won’t fail us in the face of extreme weather.
In North Carolina, that investment has looked like $89.8 million for weatherization, $35.3 million to prevent outages and make the power grid more resilient, and $206.7 million for infrastructure resilience, including $23.9 million through the Army Corps of Engineers for flood mitigation. These investments are crucial and necessary, and part of the larger work that must be done in order to build a world where communities are adequately protected from the realities of a warming planet.
As a doctor who represents health professionals concerned with how climate change impacts vulnerable communities, I know that climate doom is not motivating. Instead, I want to help people understand that taking action to prevent and lessen the impacts of climate change is within the power of each and every individual, business, and government agency in North Carolina
Recovery after Helene will be long, and in the rebuilding we should look for ways to fortify our communities so that they can be healthy. That will mean tackling climate change head on. We need not just medical professionals, but policies that put climate front and center, protect our patients and their homes, and help us build a more resilient North Carolina.