September 22, 2025 | Originally published in Medpage Today
By: Janelle White, MD, MHCM
“I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Those were the words of a 73-year-old resident of Buncombe County, North Carolina, whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Stranded in an emergency shelter without his medicine, he confided in a doctor who was volunteering: “I don’t know what to do.”
He was not alone. Some 4.6 million North Carolina residents, or 40% of the state’s population, lived in areas ravaged by the record-breaking rainfall and devastating flooding from Hurricane Helene — the deadliest hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland since Katrina. Of course, hurricanes are not new to the state of North Carolina. But they are new to many living in the non-coastal, mountainous areas located on the opposite side of the state from the stormy coast…READ THE FULL ARTICLE>
Janelle White, MD, MHCM, is a physician and the chief medical officer of North Carolina Medicaid. White is a 2025 Climate Health Equity Fellow with the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health or its members.
The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health or its members.