Hurricane Helene was the first of two devastating hurricanes that hit the southeast of the USA, while Milton, the successor, focused exclusively on Florida. Helene hit the NC area the hardest for five days in September, and people will take a long time to recover from the rain damage, which resulted from the hurricane. 

At least 240 people were killed by Hurricane Helene and the property damage was 47.5 billion dollars. It was a category 4; one could only imagine what a category 5 would have done to the Carolinas. Helene made landfall initially in Perry, Florida, but quickly and surprisingly moved up to focus on the mountain towns of North Carolina. 

For the mountain towns this could not have hit at a worst time, A lot of these mountain towns make their money in autumn when tourists come to watch the leaves fall, but now it’s not even a matter of people not wanting to go; a lot of the roads into the mountains just aren’t there anymore. That could be entire year with no income for many of the residents who make their money off of tourism. I can only hope that they recover, at least partially, sooner rather than later. 

Hurricanes have become more frequent and worse over the years, and there’s one thing that most people have pointed a finger at, climate change. Hurricanes get their energy from the ocean, and climate change puts a lot more energy in the ocean as the water temperatures continue to rise. 

We  need to focus on correcting climate change; otherwise, the hurricanes are going to only get worse. We need to come together as a community and stand against global warming. I suggest that we focus on renewable energy. I firmly believe that it is not too late, so if you’re hearing this, I wholeheartedly recommend talking about going green with your parents.