THE FRONT LINES
It will take years to fully recover from the devastation caused by Helene in North Carolina.
In Need Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the outdoor community and retailers in the Southeast hard. e industry will take a long time to recover. Here is how you can help. By Wes Allen
F ood, water, toiletries, and clothes. When a ash ood wiped out our neighbors in Red Lodge, Montana, in 2022, those were the most critical ways to help the victims, who needed those supplies immediately. But, as we look at really helping our colleagues in the Southeast on their road to recovery, the long-term lessons from that disaster, and others like it, shouldn’t be ignored. As the oodwaters subside from the rains that Helene and Milton brought to the South- east, it’s easy for those of us
would otherwise circulate the lost dollars. Tourists who would visit next year won’t come be- cause, while they heard about the damage, the recovery won’t make the news. IF YOU ARE AN OUTDOOR INDUSTRY professional or enthusiast, let’s discuss how to use those learnings to support our friends whose lives have been turned upside down by this catastro- phe—not only today and tomorrow, but also in a time frame that means they will be able to support themselves next month and next year.
who weren’t directly a ected to want to move on to the next crisis. There is always some- thing new on the news, and it’s easy to believe that since the oods aren’t the lead story on our news app, the situation is somehow xed. But, just as our local com- munity saw with the aftermath of the Yellowstone oods, the impact on the well-being of our friends in the Southeast is more lasting than the ood- waters. The storms’ impacts will be felt throughout those communities for years, and the medium-term impacts are
often severe enough that busi- nesses and organizations won’t be around when the situation nally gets back to normal. After the waters recede, the roads get patched, and the federal agencies fade from the scene, communities like Ashe- ville, North Carolina, are left to deal with lasting infrastructure damage, persistent low visita- tion, and economic slowdowns on several levels. A portion of the community lost their jobs or businesses, and the nature of local economies magnify the impact of that loss through the other layers of businesses that
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