“It’s been two months since the storm,” Asheville organizer Sarah Nuñez told me. “Two months that felt more like six.”
In late September, Hurricane Helene triggered massive flooding across six states, killing at least 230 people as the storm gutted local infrastructure and swept away homes. 42 of those deaths occurred in Buncombe County, North Carolina, which is home to Asheville — a city previously regarded as a “climate haven.” As neighbors in Asheville rallied to rescue and care for one another, in the days following the storm, I spoke with local organizers who were establishing mutual aid hubs and delivering essential supplies. The volunteers echoed a recurring plea: don’t forget about us when the news cycle moves on. They stressed that recovering from a disaster of this magnitude would take years. Many feared their communities would be left without the sustained attention and support they would need to fully recover.
Recently, I had the chance to catch up with one of those volunteers. Sarah Nuñez is an organizer with the Aflorar Herb Collective. In the storm’s aftermath, Sarah spoke to me from her car, between supply runs, as her phone’s battery power dwindled. This time, we talked via Zoom, as Sarah explained how conditions have improved in Asheville and what obstacles residents are still facing. Sarah also imparted some lessons that organizers on the ground in Asheville have learned from their ordeal — lessons that we should all consider in this era of crisis and catastrophe.
“The first time we talked, it felt like everything was spiraling,” Sarah told me. In the immediate aftermath of Helene, mutual aid work in Asheville involved “a lot of moving parts,” and “a lot of things had to happen simultaneously.” Sarah and her co-organizers were extremely overworked in those early days but also highly effective. “We were getting a lot done,” she said. However, Sarah found the relentless pace of the work dizzying. She was in constant communication with her neighbors and other relief volunteers about the needs of stranded community members and what supplies were available. Gasoline, groceries, and water arrived in sporadic intervals, and the work of delivering and distributing supplies was exhausting.“
“It was this big, spiraling moment,” she said. “Everything was happening.”
Today, the situation in Asheville remains serious, but conditions on the ground have improved. Electricity and most internet services have been restored, and clean running water is available. However, amid so much destruction, local organizers still have their work cut out for them. “Now, we’re dealing with folks with no homes, folks without access to resources, people without jobs, businesses completely demolished, farms completely demolished,” Sarah explained. “It’s the work of rebuilding your personal life and also rebuilding an entire community.”
Sarah noted that for people living in Asheville’s rural outskirts, the situation remains bleak. “Yesterday, I was coming back from a trip from Louisville, Kentucky, and I had to take an hour-and-a-half detour because the highway’s closed,” she said. “I drove through Hot Springs, and it’s pretty bad. The town’s not even open, and there’s just debris everywhere.” Sarah took a solemn pause as though contemplating the destruction. “In most of the more rural places like Swannanoa and Barnardsville, or Hot Springs… on a personal level, it’s just heartbreaking, and it doesn’t quite feel real.”
While continuing to support community efforts to keep her displaced neighbors housed and nourished, Sarah is now moving at a more sustainable pace. “At some point, there was enough,” Sarah said. “It’s like everybody got set up, it seemed like all the churches, everyone was mobilized. You could see the support chains linking in. Everyone was doing it.” Amid so much mobilization, Sarah and her crew finally had room to breathe. The group was able to refocus on its primary purpose: healing work. Aflorar Herb Collective provides activists, organizers, and community members with free herbal care kits, teas, salves, tinctures, plants, and........