
Climate Havens Turned Resource Islands

Asheville, North Carolina has long been revered for its temperate climate. In the 19th century, its growth was fueled by the theory that it had the climate to cure tuberculosis, and its fresh air and natural beauty have drawn tourists and would be residents ever since. In recent years, climate migration and climate gentrification became increasingly critical conversations as Asheville became touted as a “climate haven”, a city deemed more resilient to climate change, and better able to take in newcomers due to (relatively) affordable housing options and (relatively) forward thinking governance. In 2020, I encouraged my mother to move to Asheville instead of Savannah, or Charleston, on the grounds that it was safer from the impacts of climate change.
The last several days have obliterated any sense of Asheville as a haven from the effects of climate change, and I spent a frantic few days trying to find a way, from the USVI, to help my mother get out of the safe haven I’d recommended. As always, there are lessons to be learned from the devastation. In this case, the growing risks from inland rain events associated with tropical systems, the resulting resource islands and related barriers to recovery, and the importance of cultivating local knowledge and valuing state- and federal-level expertise in emergency management.
Inland Impacts
At 5 pm on September 25th, Hurricane Helene was a Category 1 storm located just north of Cancun, Mexico. A mere 30 hours later, following a period of rapid intensification, Helene made landfall on Thursday evening, September 26th, near Perry, Florida, as a Category 4 storm with winds of 140 mph. The storm then proceeded inland just east of Tallahassee, leaving a trail of destruction north into Georgia, South Carolina, and the southern Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. As of October 1st, there are at least 130 deaths attributed to Helene, and more than 600 people still missing. Asheville sits at 2,000 feet above sea level, nearly 300 miles from the nearest coastline. Nowhere, it would seem, remains safe from the inland impacts of the modern major hurricane.
Inland flooding as a result of tropical cyclones has increasingly become a concern over the past several years. A warmer atmosphere also holds more moisture – approximately 7% more moisture per 1°C of warming. This can help drive rapid intensification, but also means that warmer years are producing wetter storms, driving torrential rain impacts further inland. Over the last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been rolling out their new “Cone of Concern”, which includes tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings for inland counties in addition to coastal counties. Additionally, increased outreach regarding the risks of storm surge and flash flooding has been prioritized by federal, state, and local agencies.
In Western North Carolina last week, the region was already experiencing flooding as a result of a front that had stalled. When Helene passed through, more than 20 inches of rain fell on already waterlogged ground, sending the major rivers in the area into extreme flood stage with startling intensity. The Swannanoa River crested at 26.1 feet, more than five feet above the recorded record from 1919. The French Broad River crested at 30.3 feet, exceeding the previous record by more than ten feet. This deluge of water washed out roads across the region, effectively cutting Western North Carolina off from the rest of the world.
Resource Islands
Here in the US Virgin Islands, we are familiar with the logistical challenges of islands. In the seven years since Category 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria made landfall here within two weeks of each other, Virgin Islanders have navigated an extensive and complex recovery process. Love City Strong’s mission since day one has been to create programs and build capacity in pursuit of a more resilient, sustainable community, to ensure that in future disasters, we understand how to navigate our own recovery.
Over the past few years, we have spoken more and more about how our lessons learned can be applied not only to neighboring Caribbean island communities, but to rural communities anywhere. Many rural communities, whether located in mountainous regions or in the plains of the west, have limited access routes. When these roads are damaged, destroyed, or become inaccessible, these communities face the same challenges as remote Caribbean islands. Relief becomes very difficult to come by, and very expensive to provide. Federal and state resources take time to deploy, and needs assessments take time to complete.
In our experience, these needs assessments are best facilitated by local resources, by neighbors, by mutual aid partners. Familiar faces provide comfort in traumatic times, and response experience nurtured and cached in local communities is a major asset in times of crisis. Increasingly, communities that have never been impacted by a major disaster will find themselves suddenly in the aftermath, with their reality altered in unimaginable ways. In these circumstances, it is critical to have experienced, seasoned professionals at the local, state, and federal levels. Local nonprofits and faith-based organizations know their communities like no one else, and can provide efficient unmet needs assessments at ground level. Emergency management professionals can build local capacity, fill gaps in the response, and help map the path forward to recovery. As we learned firsthand here on St John, it is rarely necessary to reinvent the wheel. Often you just need that wheel schematic, subject matter expertise, and local knowledge to iterate a version that will suit your community’s needs.
Foundations of Experience and Subject Matter Expertise
If there is one resource to prioritize as we look at the future of climate driven disasters, it is experience. At the local level, agencies and organizations have experience advocating for local needs, culture, and priorities. At the state or territorial level, agencies develop capacity, build knowledge, and nurture local talent. At the national level, subject matter experts are building on decades of practical experience and lessons learned, innovating for the future, and lifting up communities experiencing these challenges for the first time. In the past week there’s not a person in the southeast United States who has not been glued to NOAA’s forecasts, or waited for updates on disaster declarations and FEMA deployments.
As the southeast navigates a years-long recovery from the impacts of Helene, each state will benefit from federal support that makes an otherwise inconceivable recovery more navigable. FEMA will provide Individual Assistance, Critical Needs Assistance, Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation Grants, and more. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will provide Community Development Block Grants in both Disaster Recovery and Mitigation tranches. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will provide disaster loans to help businesses recover, and countless other departments will roll out recovery funding related to their specific mandates.
These financial resources can be, as we’ve learned in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the last seven years, cumbersome to navigate. The subject matter experts at FEMA, HUD, and SBA collaborate with private philanthropy and nonprofit organizations to weave an intricate web of funding sources, technical capacity, and deeply ingrained knowledge that is invaluable to communities facing unprecedented disaster. In a future with climate-driven disasters impacting more areas previously deemed “safe”, our collective focus should be on maintaining and cultivating valuable knowledge, experience, and resources, and integrating them efficiently at the local, state, and federal levels.