Mutual Aid in the Aftermath of Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene has wrought untold devastation across several Southeastern states, and is the to have hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. So far more than 200 people are , and the cost of the estimated damage could be as high as .
Among the hardest hit areas is Asheville, North Carolina, where the has been devastated, hundreds of thousands remain , and a thriving arts district has been severely flooded. To make matters worse, and his billionaire backer have fueled wild conspiracy theories, in part based on their continued demonization of immigrants.
Lauren Steiner, an organizer, activist, and independent journalist based in Asheville, spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about Helene’s impact, the government’s response, and how the local community is engaged in mutual aid efforts.
Sonali Kolhatkar
joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Ƶ Institute’s Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice (2023) and Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (2005). Her forthcoming book is called Talking About Abolition (Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women’s Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master’s in Astronomy from the University of Hawai’i, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on “My Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host” in her 2014 of the same name.
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