Communities across the U.S. southeast are reeling from devastation left by what scientists say is, in effect, a new type of storm – one whose destructive force is felt far more broadly, and much farther inland, than that of typical hurricanes of the past.

Hurricane Helene crashed into Florida’s Big Bend coast as a Category 4 storm Thursday night, leaving scenes of battered houses and flooded communities by the coast. But its damage is most severe in places where people were neither expecting nor well prepared for a tropical deluge – in particular, mountainous North Carolina.

Officials’ immediate focus is on recovery and relief. But a lesson for the future is also sinking in: The storm we didn’t know to be ready for is, increasingly, the kind of storm we need to be ready for.

Hurricane Helene is the third major storm to barrel through Florida’s northern Gulf Coast in just over a year. Here, residents are taking stock. 

The storm damage clearly shows what needs to be done to improve resilience, says Heath Davis, resident and former mayor of Cedar Key, a tiny barrier island. “You have to think about it that way, otherwise it gets too sad.”

Communities across the U.S. southeast are reeling from devastation left by what scientists say is, in effect, a new type of storm – one whose destructive force is felt far more broadly, and much farther inland, than that of typical hurricanes of the past.

Hurricane Helene crashed into Florida’s Big Bend coast as a Category 4 storm Thursday night, leaving scenes of battered houses and flooded communities by the coast. But its damage is most severe in places where people were neither expecting nor well prepared for a tropical deluge – in particular, mountainous North Carolina, where flood waters swept away entire neighborhoods, downed power and water systems, and crushed roads that connected residents.  

More than 100 people have lost their lives in the storm, according to officials, and hundreds are missing. About 2 million remain without power, and tens of thousands are still without potable water. Officials’ immediate focus is on recovery and relief. But a lesson for the future is also sinking in: The storm we didn’t know to be ready for is, increasingly, the kind of storm we need to be ready for.  

Indeed, Helene’s rapid intensification and stunning destruction in places once considered “climate havens” revealed what scientists have long warned are stark vulnerabilities in American infrastructure and policy at a time when global warming is exacerbating extreme weather. The storm’s aftermath has also highlighted the sort of resilience experts say will be needed to rebuild and prepare for a warmer future.

Still an alarming situation

In Cedar Key, Florida, where Helene crashed into the coast and sent a storm surge of more than 9 feet above the normal high tide line, people shared water bottles and snacks, and helped each other move debris into piles. In Augusta, Georgia, a region that counted at least 21 deaths caused by the storm, neighbors joined together to try to move fallen trees by hand. In the hill communities around Asheville, North Carolina, cut off from surrounding areas by landslides and roadways crushed by rushing water, friends shared power, gas-fueled grills, and the rare cellphone connectivity.

“Neighbors are coming out into the street to talk to one another,” says Greg Lambert, an architect who lives in the Oteen area of Asheville, just south of Interstate 40, portions of which collapsed in the storm. “It’s unifying, in a way.”

But the situation is also still alarming, he says. The main roads in and out of his city are closed to all but emergency traffic, and many hamlets are cut off from the main population center – islands within an island, as one commentator put it Sunday. Reaching these areas is – and will continue to be – a huge challenge, officials say; relief efforts are employing everything from helicopters to mules in order to reach stranded residents.