🗣  Hope after Climate Catastrophe: Lessons from Hurricane Helene — SFPL

🗣 Hope after Climate Catastrophe: Lessons from Hurricane Helene — SFPL

🔆 Late in 2024, Hurricane Helene struck with ferocious power, stretching roughly 500 miles wide and 55 miles high as it traversed the Gulf of Mexico. Upon making landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm, it continued inland for 500 miles, delivering hurricane-strength winds even in Western North Carolina. The aftermath was devastating, with flooding, landslides, and extensive tree loss wreaking havoc, resulting in critical utilities being out for weeks. The storm tragically claimed at least 108 lives and obliterated over 126,000 homes in Western North Carolina, a region recently dubbed a "climate haven" by newcomers escaping worsening conditions in California.

Despite needing an estimated $55 billion for recovery, Western North Carolina has received a mere $5 billion in federal and state assistance. Nonetheless, incredible efforts are underway to rebuild with resilience. Casey King will discuss effective strategies that helped communities not only to cope with the aftermath but also to foster hope amidst despair. Her insights highlight the crucial ways we can continue tackling sustainability challenges without succumbing to hopelessness.

🔸️ About Casey King: She is the Director of Sustainability and a Lecturer in Environmental Science at the University of North Carolina Asheville, focused on transdisciplinary approaches to climate change transformation.

▪︎ Meet at 4:30 sharp for an early dinner at Gyro King (25 Grove St)
▪︎ PLEASE don't be a no-show; if your plans change, please update your RSVP before the event.
▪︎ A last-minute cancellation will count as a no-show.