The Center for Cultural Preservation, WNC’s cultural history and documentary film center will air its newest project, a radio documentary commemorating Tropical Storm Helene’s impact on WNC, later this month (September). The program, From Helene And Back – Nature’s Wakeup Call will focus on the storm’s impacts, how the community came together to help each other and what we’ve learned about historic storms to help us be better prepared in the future. This NPR radio documentary will have its radio debut on Tuesday, September 23rd at 9:00 PM on WNCW 88.7.
According to David Weintraub, the program’s producer and the Center’s director, “Everyone living in Western North Carolina was traumatically impacted by the storm, whether we suffered actual losses ourselves or witnessed the devastation around us. It was heartening how neighbors arose from the rubble and stepped up to do what was needed, helping all of us slowly get back on our feet. With a year gone by, this is a good time to ask, what can we learn from Helene and how can we rebuild a more resilient community that can overcome any challenges we face.”
The program will include stories of Helene survivors and what they faced, discussions with emergency managers, resilience experts, landslides experts and those involved in relief work. Of particular interest to listeners might be the seventh generation elders whose families have been through other major floods before including the Great Flood of 1916 who understood once the storm warnings were announced that they needed to prepare.
Don Freeman, a seventh generation of Henderson County, whose aunt was carrying a baby as she fled from a landslide in 1916, said that he thought people back in 1916 were better prepared than most people were in 2024 when Helene savaged our area. “I do think they were better prepared. They understood they needed to be prepared at all times for the worst possible circumstance by putting up food, having sources of fuel and making sure their homes weren’t located near streams or in landslide hazard zones.”
Rick Wooten one of the region’s foremost expert in landslides, who worked for the North Carolina Geologic Survey for decades, says, “Our culture here in the mountains is stewardship of the mountains and being good neighbors. What we do on mountainsides and in floodplains not only effects you but all your neighbors downslope and downstream. Helene brought a comparable amount of rain to WNC as the Great Flood of 1916. What was different this time was all of the infrastructure that was built some of which made vulnerable areas even more susceptible to flooding and landslides.”
Weintraub says he hopes that the radio documentary will help people heal but also help the community better understand that by working with neighbors and policymakers, we can better safeguard our future.
From Helene and Back – Nature’s Wakeup Call will air on WNCW 88.7 FM or via livestream on www.wncw.org on Tuesday, September 23 at 9:00 PM. A special bonus feature is that WNCW will also rebroadcast the Center’s 1916 Flood Radio Documentary the week before, on Tuesday, September 16 at 9 PM.
The Center for Cultural Preservation is dedicated to preserving the living history of the mountains and its people through an oral history project, producing PBS documentary films and through public programs like this one. For more information, visit them at SaveCulture.org
