Helene

A year after Helene, students are wrestling with heightened mental health challenges, from anxiety and depression to an uptick in sleep issues and “externalizing behaviors” like aggression and substance use.

In this edition of Carolina Curious, DJ Simmons dives into how climate change is affecting future storms that could impact North Carolina.

UNC Health Appalachian psychologist and outpatient Behavioral Health Manager Eva Trivett-Clark is stationed in Avery County, one of the hardest hit regions in North Carolina during the storm. She shares the impacts and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as interventions and resources available to help people through it.

Eighty-six-year-old Asheville resident Mary Park Ford was at her home in the mountains when Helene hit. The storm left several trees on her roof and sealed off her road. After a year of dealing with insurers, contractors, FEMA and more, she's back in her home. She shares this look back with her son, WFDD reporter David Ford.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina CEO Eric Aft says federal budget cuts to food and farm programs mean people are getting less on each visit.

It’s been only a year since Hurricane Helene hammered the southeast U.S. from Florida to the Carolinas. Some of the heaviest damage came from flooding in the North Carolina mountains, where some 30 inches of rain turned gentle streams into walls of water that swept away anything in their path.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Monday requested $13.5 billion more from Congress in recovery aid for Hurricane Helene almost a year after the historic storm, saying additional help is needed from Washington to address record amounts of damage and to get funds to the region quicker.

The rivers and streams of western North Carolina are still recovering from Hurricane Helene almost a year later. Contractors have pulverized those streams with heavy equipment to remove storm debris — causing a second ecological disaster in the storm’s wake.

President Donald Trump has approved federal disaster aid for six states and tribes following storms and floods that occurred this spring and summer.

The fall foliage season brings in hundreds of millions of tourist dollars into the North Carolina mountain economy each year.