In 1999, Hurricane Floyd roared throughNorth Carolinaas one of the states deadliest and most harmful hurricanes.
It was the second major storm that month and the third in as many years to ravage the state.
It was rendered uninhabitable by the storm.
Flood damage is strewn across a road in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on September 29, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina.Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Its hard to describe the sense of loss.
The death toll will rise in the years to come.
The average hurricane in theU.S.
Theres also an extremely consequential gubernatorial race pitting Republican Lt. Gov.Mark Robinsonagainst Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.
It amounts to the nations largest-ever financial commitment to environmental and climate justice.
But theyre in a race against time.
Harris plans to continue and expand upon these policies.
Theres a huge urgency, explains Sherri White-Williamson, director of North Carolinas Environmental Justice Community Action internet.
If things change on November 4, we know that money is not going to be there.
And critical work thats just getting started, just wouldnt get done, she says.
While the latter spin Halloween style webs, the funnel weaver is all-functionality.
This web had probably been there for about a year, and it was filthy.
But thats exactly why Hawn, a Ph.D. in zoology, liked it.
Hawn calls it Spidey Sense-r.
Measuring the pollution where we live is the first and most basic step to protect public health.
Hawnspecializes in community centered participatory research, with those most impacted by harm in the lead.
Its a once in a generation opportunity, Hawn says of Justice40.
I see a massive potential to increase environmental justice competency and conversations, and also support the movement.
Sampson is one of the most economically distressed counties in the state.
Felipe is 30-years-old and a sincere, unassuming minister in his mothers nearby church.
Sampson County has never had any kind of federal attention around air quality, he adds.
With Felipes hire, EJCANs staff now totals five (including two others recently hired with federal funds).
But its more than just a bad aroma.
Collecting that data is how we can tell the story of whats happening in places like this.
I was probably one of the first ones that signed up, Brunson tells me.
She enthusiastically presents the air monitor perched on her front lawn.
Since 2021, the EPA increased clean air and pollution standardsestimatedto have saved more than 200,000 lives.
Its how we start to create action and bring about change, White-Williamson says.
He credits the Biden-Haris administration with a new approach to providing much-needed support.
But the federal government, this administration, stepped up and said, We see you.
Were going to help you.
Durham has been awarded nearly $60 million in federal Justice40 grants.
The evidence of this money is apparent walking around the city.
Hill is on the other side of the train tracks and the freeway from downtown Durham.
Thats by design, explains Summer Alston, special projects manager for the City of Durham.
So, the two merged here and the term environmental justice was born.
This legacy influences and permeates the work of those who have followed in their footsteps, Alston explains.
Now with climate change, historical wrongs are just being amplified, generation after generation after generation.
To address some of these risks, W.D.
Hill is about to become Durhams first resilience hub.
Hill will be energy-self-reliant.
The federal funding also inspired a community-led months-long discussion about what resilience means for the whole district.
The city applied for a $12 million Justice40 grant to support the resulting, Hayti Reborn initiative.
They identify the urgency of the climate crisis, with Black voters expressing the greatest concern.
Central Park and Fayetteville Street flooded as a result of Hurricane Helene.
To the west, Asheville was without power for weeks, and many areas are still waiting for electricity.
Without electricity, water and sewage cannot flow.
Across the state, over one million households went without power, including parts of Durham.
The shorter the distance energy travels the more resilient the system, and the less energy is used.
Federal subsidies will help overcome obstacles imposed by Duke Energy, the statesmonopolypower-provider.
Jones has watched loved-ones die from cancers and other illnesses that he attributes to pollution from the plant.
Hes working to not only hold Duke accountable, but also halt Dukes plans to furtherexpand methane gas operations.
Solar could be such a blessing to my community in a whole lot of ways, Jones says.
Its an all-boats-float situation, Alston says of the Biden-Harris funding.
Making scarcity less of a thing means theres more money to go around to service the entire state.
Then you know that well re-instill peoples faith in the system thats supposed to be designed to serve them.
But if the money falls through and theyre unable to deliver, people will disengage even further.
I dont know how many more hits they will take, Alston confides.
Weve Never Been Asked Before.
Weve Always Been Told.
Crystal Cavalier-Keck is a member of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation.
Her family and her Tribe have resided in North Carolina for generations.
She lives in the home built by her grandfather in Mebane just North of Durham and surrounded by relatives.
It was a deal with the devil, she says.
But this has not stopped her from also working to ensure that tribal communities secure benefits.
Cavalier-Keck describes an entirely unique and empowering process.
Weve never been asked before.
Weve always been told.
She expressed similar fears for the outcome of the states gubernatorial race if Mark Robinson were to win.
Our community would really be at a loss, Cavalier-Keck says.
Even low-income white communities too.
He will gutsolar,wind, and federal regulations that protect our air, water, and climate.
Vice PresidentKamala Harris policies are the solutions that were looking for on the ground.
The alternative, he adds, is just impossible to imagine.
