Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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When Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina in September 2024, it came as a shock, hitting mountains, not coasts, and flooding rivers and communities with little experience of dealing with hurricanes. Helene quickly became one of the worst storms to ever hit the U.S., and in the absence of a quick response by state or federal government, other groups flooded in. Right-wing actors took advantage of the chaos, spreading rumors about looting and trying to boost their image. But it’s the mutual aid networks — some long standing, others new that responded with creative, effective strategies to distribute water, medicine and help communities rebuild. In this episode, Laura Flanders heads to some of the hardest-hit areas in western North Carolina and speaks with community activists to hear the lessons to be learned for the future. Amid Trump cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service, the future for storm recovery in North Carolina is uncertain. But one thing's for sure — mutual aid support like Pansy Collective, Cherokee One Feather, Racial Justice Coalition (RJC), Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR) and Collaborativa La Milpa have the strategies and solutions we may all need for survival.

“It takes the state a long time to mobilize, and that might continue to be true as FEMA gets defunded . . . It’s imperative that people fight to keep their disaster response funding, but until then, we need to know how to respond ourselves.” - RT

“We were talking to the people that were staying in hotels because they had just lost everything and didn't know where they were going to get their next meal or their medicine. Talk to those people . . . We had those journalists, especially BIPOC journalists in Western North Carolina, making sure those stories were told.” - Brooklyn Brown (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)

GUESTS:
Brooklyn Brown (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians): Reporter, Cherokee One Feather
Janet Kent: Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR)
RT Pansy
Alan Luis Ramirez: Collaborativa La Milpa
Mab Segrest: Anti Racist Research Program, Blueprint NC

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CREDITS:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Producer: Jeremiah Cothren
Senior Consulting Producer: Rory O’Connor
Senior Video Editor: David Neumann
Video Editor: Veronica Delgado
Audio Director: Jeannie Hopper
Development Director: Sarah Miller
Communications Director: Janet Hernandez

SPECIAL THANKS:
Davyne Dial, General Manager
WPVM FM 103.7 - Community Radio for Asheville
Mab Segrest
Blueprint NC
Additional crew: DL Anderson, Jon Laww

0:00 - Hurricane Helene’s Destruction
5:15 - Mutual Aid and Local Response
12:00 - How Local, BIPOC Journalists Covered this Story
16:35 - Cooperatives, the Threat of Gentrification, and What’s Next for Residents