On Friday, September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene hit Western NC and nearby states, dropping an estimated 40 trillion gallons of rain on ground already saturated from a storm earlier that week. 

What happens when that much rain hits the mountains? It all flows down into the valleys, accompanied by mudslides, floods, and tornadoes, down, down, and down to the rivers of Asheville.... Rivers, hardly more than a creek at normal times became flooded lakes of rushing water, consuming all in their path. Homes were ripped from their foundations, industrial brick and cinder block factories vanished, vehicles and bodies alike were torn apart in the raging waters... The backup water lines buried 25 feet deep were left on the surface of the ground in pieces... 

While my home and neighborhood in Asheville were untouched, we had no cell service for about 3 days, no power for 12 days, no water for 15 days, and still no potable water now - over a month later!

In the midst of the devastating loss left in the hurricane's wake, the grit and resilience of the mountain people rapidly shone through. Efforts to meet neighbor's needs and to begin cleanup and restoration were underway immediately. FEMA purportedly commented that they've never seen a community come together to be neighborly and rebuild in such fashion as here. 

______________________________________________________________________

Appalachian Grit is a lyrical documentary project, created in the three weeks immediately following the hurricane. It's a form based project using landscapes to evoke the emotion and grit of the people. Images were shot on an iPhone 15 pro, sometimes through my vehicle window, a practical decision born out of the fact that we had no power for 12 days to charge my camera battery and the fact that the mud was deemed toxic. Stylistically, the choice to use my iPhone reinforces the grit, the imperfection, the roughness... Later, editing in Lightroom, choices were made to bring out more detail and grit in the images themselves. 

Each image carries something of beauty too... in form, in contrast of landscape, in lighting, in the poignancy of hope... all reflecting the grit of the people. 

This project is dedicated to those whose lives were lost...

To the businesses hand digging themselves out of multiple feet of mud....

To the people who lost homes, vehicles, everything but the clothes on their back... 

To the thousands trying to rebuild without insurance coverage (no flood insurance or hurricane insurance in the mountains!)

To the Appalachian Mountains and the French Broad River - some of the oldest geographical features on earth... those that have stood the test of time... 

To the grit that is #WNCstrong and the rallying cry #wewillrebuild

____________________________________________________________________

Sadly, it's easier for some people to believe that our government has the power to manufacture 40 billion gallons of water and countless tornadoes than it is to believe in climate change. 

What can you do, today, one simple thing, to live more sustainably?