Asheville Shows No Place Is Safe From Climate Change

ABC News reports:

Asheville, North Carolina, has been called a potential safe haven for climate refugees by real estate researchers, praised for its temperate mountain weather, distance far from the coast, experiencing less extreme heat and fewer wildfires.

Certainly, there are locations that are going to be able to withstand some of those impacts more than others, according to Dave Reidmiller, the director of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Climate Center.

However, the fatal floods and landslides seen after Helene ripped through Buncombe County, which encompasses Asheville, highlight that “no place is truly untouched by climate change, anywhere in the world,” said Reidmiller.

USA Today reports:

Photos and videos captured the “biblical devastation” in Asheville, North Carolina as residents scramble to find resources after flooding and power outages caused gas and water shortages.

Roads were submerged, vehicles and homes were destroyed and residents were left to pick up the pieces left by Helene, which drenched the area with torrential rain late last week after making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida.

The city said an exact timeline is not clear, but it could take weeks before water service is fully restored. Stores in the devastated area can only accept cash after the lack of power and spotty internet service made them unable to process payments with credit and debit cards.

Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for.