As the Helene recovery and investigations reporter for the Citizen Times since late June, I spent nearly three months focused on the progress, the shortcomings, the lives still touched by this thousand-year storm and, ultimately, the ability of the region to respond again.
Another storm like Helene may not come tomorrow, but the question is no longer if the region will face one again — only when, and whether its unfinished $60 billion recovery will be complete when it does.
How WNC is still rebuilding as Helene recovery remains unfinished
When another Helene arrives before rebuilding is complete, the region may meet it with critical roads, bridges and public facilities still compromised, unfinished, temporarily repaired or rebuilt no stronger than before.
Helene changed their lives 2 years ago. What came next for survivors
When disaster returns to lives already forever altered
by Helene, a small-town mayor rebuilding a ruined business, a couple rebuilding a livelihood and parents raising a child born as the storm arrived will show how survival gave way to the more profound work of starting over.
In each case, Helene wasn’t the end — it was only the beginning.
Hear survivor recount harrowing escape during Tropical Storm Helene
David Donald and dog Coco were trapped in the attic as floodwaters from Tropical Storm Helene rose around them. Hear their story:
Photos show how Helene survivors rebuilt homes, businesses and lives
Meet the people behind Helene's recovery: survivors, business owners and families rebuilding lives across Western North Carolina.
Our most devastating images after Helene hit Asheville in 2024
Tropical Storm Helene hit Western North Carolina in late September 2024, killing at least 100 people in the state. These are some of our most harrowing images from the storm and the damage it left.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Two years after Helene, is WNC ready for another storm? | When, not if
