The Ballad and the Flood

In Appalachia, Hurricane Helene was a thousand-year-flood. It flattened towns and forests, washed roads away, and killed hundreds.

But this story is not about the flood. It’s about what happened after.

A month after Hurricane Helene, our producer Justine Paradis visited Marshall, a tiny town in the Black Mountains of western North Carolina, a region renowned for its biodiversity, music, and art.

She went to see what it really looks like on the ground in the wake of a disaster, and how people create systems to help each other. But what she found there wasn’t just a model of mutual aid: it was a glimpse of another way to live with one another.

Featuring Josh Copus, Becca Nicholson, Rachel Bennett, Steve Matlack, Keith Majeroni, and Ian Montgomery.

Appearances by Meredith Silver, Anna Thompson, Kenneth Satterfield, Reid Creswell, Jim Purkerson, Jazz Maltz, Melanie Risch, and Alexandra Barao.

Songs performed by Sheila Kay Adams, Analo Phillips, Leah Song and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia, and William Ritter.

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LINKS

An excerpt of “A Paradise Built in Hell” by Rebecca Solnit (quoted in this episode) is available on Lithub.

“You know our systems are broke when 5 gay DJs can bring 10k of supplies back before the national guard does.” (Them)

The folks behind the Instagram account @photosfromhelene find, clean, and share lost hurricane photos, aiming to reunite the hurricane survivors with their photo memories. 

A great essay on mutual aid by Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker)
 

CREDITS

Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi

Reported, written, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis 

Edited by Taylor Quimby

Our team also includes Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario.

NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie

Special thanks to  Poder Emma and Collaborativa La Milpa in Asheville. Thanks also to Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR).

Music by  Doctor Turtle, Guustavv, Blue Dot Sessions, Cody High, and Silver Maple.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.