LEAD: It’s been more than six months since Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, resulting in an estimated 60 billion dollars in damage. The region’s farmlands were hit hard.
STAND-UP: Several fields at Warren Wilson College Farm, located next to the Swannanoa River, were flooded during the storm; displacing much of the farm’s livestock.
TRACK: Sof Smith, a pig boss at the Farm, says they’ve had to reduce much of their livestock population, mainly pigs and cattle, due to a lack of viable land.
SOF SMITH: And now I think it is catered more towards what are we going to be planting next? And debris cleanup, like we’re waiting on FEMA to do a lot of the major cleanup.
TRACK: Revitalizing the soil plays a key role as well. Flooding washed away much of the nutrient-rich topsoil; depositing sand and silt instead and leaving pastures looking more like beaches. Charlie Rankin is with Meet My Neighbor. Along with other nonprofits in the Triangle, they’ve been helping with agricultural revitalization by sending truckloads of compost to farms in need.
CHARLIE RANKIN: It doesn’t rebuild their, their soil, but it accelerates the process, and it also allows farms to use wood chips from some of the fallen trees. If, if they just put that on their land, it would pull too many nutrients out. But when they mix it with the compost, they’re able to actually kind of speed up the process.
TRACK: North Carolina Governor Josh Stein has recently signed his first bill into law; containing at least $524 million in relief aid aimed at rebuilding homes, farms, and private roads in western North Carolina. Stein stated his administration would immediately start on another proposal for more funding to present to the legislature. The need remains great.
CHARLIE RANKIN: With a disaster like Helene, where it was so widespread and the damage was so severe, it takes years to completely, you know, come back. What we’re, what we’ve been trying to do is help the farmers operate again.
TAG: In Asheville, I’m Dani Hart, reporting.
