I Lived in a Town Immune From Natural Disasters – Until It Wasn’t

Heavy rains from Hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage around Asheville, North Carolina, on Sept. 28. Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

I grew up in Florida, so I am used to hurricane warnings, but now I live in Asheville, North Carolina. My wife and I chose Asheville as a place to retire due to the many restaurants, outdoor

activities and vibrant arts scene. Also, we assumed it was a haven from the catastrophic effects of climate change. I often recited to friends and family that we don’t have earthquakes,

tornadoes, floods or hurricanes. When the seas rise 10 feet and the world is in chaos, Asheville will be sitting pretty. I was wrong.

I awoke Friday morning to darkness. The wind was whipping outside, and rain was hammering our roof. Our house sits on the side of a mountain in a heavily wooded area. Often, the combination

of a little rain and wind will cause a limb to fall and knock out a power line. We usually wait a few hours, and the lights come back on. No big deal.

I showered in the dark, ate some breakfast by candlelight and decided to head into work at the VA hospital, where I am dual hospitalist and infectious disease doctor. I headed down our

steep, long driveway, stopping after 20 feet to clear a branch in my way. A huge gust of wind shook me and the trees unlike anything I had experienced before. I jumped back in the car and

reversed back up to our house. I figured I would wait this one out and go into work a little late.  Still rattled by the building storm, I climbed back into bed fully clothed.

For an hour the wind blew, the windows shook, trees around us fell and the rain poured down.

And then, quiet. I stepped outside to an Asheville that was no longer impervious to natural disasters. It looked like a giant had turned our neighborhood into a bowling alley.   

Our driveway was clogged with a procession of trees as far as I could see. Every nearby house, usually blocked by the thick forest, was exposed. Several of them had trees weighing them down

or branches speared through the roof. Many of the trees had been broken off mid-trunk, their tops scattered across the area.