Muddling the Message Around ‘Climate Havens’
Why were flood-prone inland cities like Asheville touted as places safe from extreme weather? Mixed signals from state and federal authorities bear some of the blame.
The aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, North Carolina.
Photographer: Sean Rayford/Getty Images North AmericaOver the past several years, media, real estate agents, and locals touted Asheville, North Carolina, as a climate haven. The inland hub, they said, was safe from hurricanes and sea-level rise, even from wildfires and extreme heat. Thousands heard those calls and relocated to the mountain town, joining the growing number of Americans moving to places perceived as unaffected by climate change.
The catastrophic flooding that Hurricane Helene unleashed across Western North Carolina in late September stopped much of that conversation in its tracks. Instead, a flurry of national headlines declared that “climate havens don’t exist” and that “nowhere is safe” from climate change.