Did Global Warming Make Hurricane Helene Worse? Here’s Where Americans Are Most Worried About Climate Change

WNC leaders envision housing, transit upgrades in Helene recovery

A year after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, regional leaders are channeling billions in recovery funds into long-term goals — rebuilding homes, expanding multi-family housing, and exploring passenger rail to Asheville. Officials say the storm offers a chance to rethink growth and resilience across housing, transit and infrastructure.

Did Global Warming Make Hurricane Helene Worse? Here’s Where Americans Are Most Worried About Climate Change

Hurricane Helene made landfall near Cedar Key, Florida, on September 26, 2024, as a Category 4 storm, traveling roughly 500 miles inland through Georgia and the southern Appalachians before dissipating near Tennessee. It caused severe inland flooding and damage across the Southeast. Climate change underpins many conversations surrounding the scale and intensity of recent natural disasters. While nationwide nearly three in four Americans believe …