Associate Professor LaToya Eaves

Associate Professor LaToya Eaves
University of Tennessee Knoxville

The arrival of Hurricane Helene in September 2024 had a catastrophic impact on southern Appalachia, challenging the discursive formation of the region as a climate haven.  The storm, the deadliest continental U.S. event since Hurricane Katrina (2005), caused significant environmental and community devastation, the full extent of which is still unfolding. As federal and state entities organized emergency assistance, individuals and community groups also mobilized their own efforts. This paper investigates the nature and emergence of these grassroots responses in the wake of Hurricane Helene, with a particular focus on Black and queer community-led efforts in western North Carolina.