Written by: Olivia Wuttke, 2025 Duke University Stanback Fellow, NCLCVF
August 2025
Last September, Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, taking 108 lives and causing an estimated $48.8 billion in damage. Less than a year later, Tropical Storm Chantal killed six North Carolinians and did more than $56 million in damage to Orange County. The physical and emotional trauma felt during this time reminds me of watching my hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana struggle with tragic extreme weather events.
Growing Up in Hurricane Country
I felt the presence of natural disasters my entire life. When the levees broke after Hurricane Katrina hit, my dad watched the water rise up, filling our street and submerging our front lawn, creeping up the steps to the top lip of our front porch. We were lucky the water began to drain before it could make it into the house.
As I grew older, I felt Katrina’s legacy in New Orleans. Many people were not as fortunate as my family – some lost their homes and others their lives. Some who made it out during evacuations or in the storm’s aftermath never returned to New Orleans.
Katrina aside, it was common in New Orleans to wake up to felled tree branches and flooded streets from large storms. In 2021, Category 4 Hurricane Ida whipped through the city, leaving it without power for over three weeks at the hottest time of the year. Unfortunately, such extreme weather experiences are not limited to New Orleans.
Extreme Weather is a National Issue
The morning after Chantal hit Durham, live news reports revealed 130 casualties caused by flash flooding in Texas, including twenty-seven young girls attending a sleepaway camp. While watching these reports in shock and horror, I listened to people call the disaster an unavoidable act of God. Of course, we should dedicate thoughts and prayers to the families suffering during this tragedy, but the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather is not random. It is human-induced climate change. To prevent future tragedies, we need accurate forecasts and warnings, timely federal relief programs, more resilient infrastructure, and climate action plans.
The president claims he is investing in technology to protect people from extreme weather events, but he slashed support for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and renewable energy. We need to be proactive, not reactive, and that means investing in climate adaptation.
The Future of Extreme Weather
Devastating extreme weather events are our new reality. If it’s not a hurricane, it’ll be a tornado like the one that hit St. Louis in May of this year. Or wildfires like those that burned through Los Angeles in January. Or an extreme heat wave like the heat dome triggering heat alerts from Nebraska to Florida in July.
As a young person, I fear the upcoming years during which extreme weather will become even more destructive. Flooding from Chantal in Durham wiped out an entire suspension bridge in the Eno River State Park, where I frequently hike and recreate with friends. This is reality for my lifetime, and I want to do something about it.
We need to get serious about climate action. Without concerted environmental efforts, communities will continue to suffer, and people will needlessly die. We need to make our voices heard.