Recovery from Helene’s Aftermath will be Long and Hard

The six states in Hurricane Helene’s path are still reeling from its impacts weeks after it entered Florida’s Big Bend coast on Thursday night, 26 September.

The storm then headed north through Georgia and the Carolinas and turned slightly northwest to Tennessee and Kentucky. Death tolls as of the time of writing are close to 227 as the recovery of bodies continued more than a week after the monster storm ravaged the southeastern states.

Helene is the deadliest and most damaging hurricane to hit the US mainland since Katrina in 2005. North Carolina, particularly the city of Asheville in the western mountains of North Carolina, stands out as the hardest hit, with half the number of victims coming from the area.

Hurricane Helene carved more than 500 miles of destruction across the Southeast. Parts of western North Carolina – homes, roads, and bridges were wiped off by the surging waters barreling down from the Appalachian Mountains. The water has liquified slopes and some places into devastating mudslides that wiped out entire communities and eventually ended up in rivers that have expanded tremendously (Zerkel, 2024).

Climate Central’s Shift Index estimates show that the hot ocean water that fuelled Helene’s intensification was 300 to 500 times more likely because of global heating (Hatch, 2024).

After Helene, Hurricane Milton is on its way

Just ten days after Hurricane Helene pummeled through several US southeast, another Hurricane that is increasing into a category five storm in the Gulf of Mexico is tearing its way toward the US Gulf Coast, bringing with it 190 mph winds (250 km/h) and expected to make landfall on Wednesday night, 9 October, or early Thursday morning.  

However, Hurricane Milton is expected to weaken on Tuesday, 8 October, as it travels over the Gulf to drop to a Category three when it lands in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Wednesday night or early Thursday. Milton is forecast to track northeast, passing through the Florida Peninsula before heading to the Atlantic Ocean, the BBC report.

Milton is again putting Florida on edge and triggering evacuation orders along the coast, which is recovering from Helene’s devastation. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warns residents to evacuate immediately on the storm’s path. Tampa Airport suspends its operation ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall and will stay closed until the storm has passed.

Recovery Efforts and the Way Forward

The destruction of major roads and the natural terrain of the southern Appalachians have made relief efforts and ongoing recovery efforts very challenging. Many of Helene’s survivors remain isolated and in serious need of help.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told NBC News that the priority is still search and rescue, but it is closely followed by commodity delivery, water restoration, and recovery. According to scientists, climate change increases Hurricane Helene’s rainfall by up to 50% in Georgia and the Carolinas, amplifying its severity.

Role of government in building climate resilient infrastructure

The article in CAP20 presented the actions the federal government under the Biden-Harris administration took to prepare for Hurricane Helene and its aftermath.

The cost of damage is estimated to range between $20 billion to $110 billion in property damage alone. It notes that despite extensive and ongoing government in disaster response and recovery, rebuilding will be arduous and long.

Kelly, Weller, and Baker (2024) say:

“The Biden-Harris administration’s rapid major disaster declaration for North Carolina and other states unlocked funds and other resources to aid survivors with their recovery and cover emergency costs. In western North Carolina and western Florida, 3 million households are eligible for emergency aid, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cover 100 percent of the initial cleanup costs across 42 counties in both states. As of October 2, the administration’s Major Disaster Declarations for affected counties across Georgia, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida distributed more than $45 million to help survivors access essential items, such as food, water, and other emergency supplies.”

The article “In the Wake of Hurricane Helene, Congress Must Invest in Rebuilding Strong, Prosperous, and Climate-Resilient Communities” outlines the government’s future actions, to wit:

First, immediate funding must be allotted to restore critical infrastructure and ensure communities’ basic needs are met. Second, lessons from effective regional development highlight that the recovery must involve smart local solutions developed by local people. Third, Congress and state and local leaders must heed the lessons of past disasters like Katrina, Harvey, and Irma and ensure that federal disaster aid focuses on rebuilding communities and infrastructure to withstand more intense and destructive extreme weather. This also includes requiring states and localities to specify in disaster aid grant applications how they plan to rebuild in ways that reduce future climate disaster risks, for example, by protecting wetlands to reduce storm runoff and updating building codes to avoid building on steep slopes and ensure that structures are elevated to reduce flood risks. Lastly, Congress must build on the Biden-Harris administration’s initiative to address climate change by expanding investments in climate action and accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy.