A resident examines the damage to his house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on Sept. 28
Photographer: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Nowhere in America Is Safe From Climate-Fueled Storms and Fires
Billion-dollar weather disasters have touched every corner of the US in the past five years.
Forecasters had warned for days that Hurricane Helene was likely to cause widespread devastation. But when the powerful storm struck Florida and barreled through the eastern US last week, killing more than 180 people and taking whole communities offline, it still managed to come as a shock.
Florida’s Big Bend, where Helene made landfall, previously went decades without a hurricane strike. In the past year or so, it has now seen three. The western half of North Carolina, once held up as a haven from the worst impacts of climate change, has been paralyzed by floods.