Hurricane Helene Revealed the Best and Worst of Appalachia…and America

The aftermath to a devastating natural disaster reveals the extent to which many Americans seem to no longer inhabit, or want to inhabit, a shared reality.

Like many other people I was heartbroken by the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene. I’m a proud native of Appalachia — though from West Virginia, rather than North Carolina, which bore the brunt of the flooding and other destruction — and it always hurts me to see folks in such an already-underserved and depressed region subjected to even more disasters for which they are unprepared and which it will take them years to rebuild. Surely, I think every time this happens, they’ve suffered enough.

At first, I was excited by the way that so many in the area and around the country were banding together to help those in the affected areas. The Appalachian Queer Film Festival quickly moved to share a portion of the proceeds from the fest with those affected by the disaster(Full disclosure: I sit on the board of the festival). Popular Twitter accounts like Appodolachia began sharing resources both on the ground and elsewhere. State and local government also seemed to be doing just what they should be doing.