Years after storms, clean-up crews meticulously separate the sentimental from the wreckage
Two years after Hurricane Helene, piles of debris linger in Jeannine Robertson's front yard in western North Carolina.
asserted
piles → clean → Carolina
"There was a big water hole, and [my grandchildren] were in the water all the time when they were here," Robertson says, choking up as she points at a shallow and shady tributary of the Cane River, which runs near the house in Yancey County, N.C. "I mean, this is where generations have done this."
asserted
generations → be → this
Debris remains scattered along the banks and in the sandy river bottom.
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Debris → scatter → bottom
"It is so heartbreaking," she says.
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she → say → ?
"[To see] something that you've watched for so many years be a safe haven, and it's just cluttered with parts of people's homes."
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it → see → homes
In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene dumped more than 30 inches of rain in some parts of Western North Carolina, setting off massive flash floods and landslides that killed at least 250 people in multiple states and damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of buildings.
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that → dump → buildings
Millions of tons of debris were strewn over thousands of square miles.
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Millions → strew → miles
After two years and more than $600 million dollars in public spending, crews still regularly pull scrap metal, PVC pipes and other trash out of the waterways.
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crews → pull → waterways
Western North Carolina's jagged and mountainous terrain makes that work even more difficult.
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work → make → ?
In one section of the Toe River, crews relied on helicopters to haul away golf carts and trailer frames from the riverbed.
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crews → rely → riverbed
Such massive and costly cleanup efforts are increasingly common across the U.S. as climate change drives more intense weather disasters.
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change → drive → disasters
Nationwide, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has spent more than $37 billion on debris removal in the last 25 years, according to publicly available FEMA records analyzed by NPR.
uncertain
Agency → spend → NPR
As debris cleanup becomes a troubling reality for more and more disaster survivors, there's a growing network of people who reunite people with lost objects in places like California, Texas and Arkansas, where disasters have destroyed thousands of homes.
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disasters → become → homes
Across the country, people are digging through rubble, mud and ash to find photographs, jewelry, stuffed animals, quilts and old yard signs, and return precious items to survivors.
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people → dig → survivors
'Something more than just a ring'
For many volunteers, it's a sacred act to clean items, restore them, and work to reunite them with their original owners.
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it → clean → owners
"When we call it debris, we box it up; we contain it in this idea that it's discardable.
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it → call → idea
And some of it is," says Dondi Persyn, who runs the volunteer network, FOUND on the Guadalupe River.
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who → say → River
But she maintains that, "there is a space for humanity in the midst of disaster."
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she → maintain → disaster
Persyn lives near the shore of the Guadalupe River in Texas, where in 2025, flash floods claimed 136 lives and countless possessions.
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floods → live → lives
This summer, the river flooded again, bringing another wave of death and loss.
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river → flood → death
Her volunteer network has collected more than 10,000 items – and returned around 8,000, including an heirloom ring that belonged to someone's great-grandmother.
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that → collect → grandmother
"The fact that it even survived changes the story of the person who received it back," she says.
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she → survive → it
"Because it survived and she survived.
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she → survive → ?
And it becomes symbolic.
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it → become → ?
It becomes something more than just a ring.
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It → become → ring
"
Millions of pounds of debris, hiding treasures
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Millions → hide → treasures
In Western North Carolina, the post-Helene cleanup has been professionalized.
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cleanup → professionalize → Carolina
The nonprofit MountainTrue runs the largest ongoing cleanup effort with nearly 100 employees pulling debris out of rivers every day.
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employees → run → rivers
Since the 2024 storm, the group has cleaned up more than 5.7 million pounds from hundreds of miles of waterways.
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group → clean → waterways
"We're nowhere near done," says the group's operations director Jon Stamper.
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director → do → ?
"There are still sections of river that we haven't been able to access."
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we → be → that
In North Carolina, the state legislature has allocated at least $20 million for debris removal work since Hurricane Helene.
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legislature → allocate → Helene
Many of the people who work for MountainTrue are former professional river guides, who turned to cleanup work after Hurricane Helene devastated the local recreation economy.
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Helene → work → economy
Their experience working in boats in remote watersheds, and their ability to work while wet and cold, make them very effective at debris cleanup work, says Stamper.
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Stamper → work → work
"It's useful anytime you're on the water, understanding the flow and dangers and things," says Michael Crooks, who has worked as a professional raft guide for decades and now works on a debris removal team.
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who → understand → team
Even trained professionals can't always recover everything that was swept away in a flood.
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that → train → flood
That's particularly true in areas that are remote or dangerous for cleanup crews to access.
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crews → access → areas
The cleanup challenges in Western North Carolina are echoed in other flood-prone parts of the country, where flood debris pollutes ecosystems.
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debris → echo → ecosystems
For example, coastal homes that are destroyed by flooding often send large debris into the ocean, where it is impossible to clean up.
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it → destroy → ocean
"You're talking about very large and, in some cases, hazardous building debris.
asserted
You → talk → debris
…and 34 more, not listed.
The Aporia
