After Hurricane Helene’s flood waters slammed into Lake Lure’s century-old dam last September, the resort town was spurred on to seek federal funding for an ambitious rebuilding plan. While the initial response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency seemed encouraging when Joe Biden was president, Donald Trump’s plans to shrink or even abolish Fema – and push some of the costs of disaster response on to states – have injected uncertainty into the North Carolina town’s recovery
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Main image: The century-old Lake Lure dam, which held during Hurricane Helene. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Wed 18 Jun 2025 15.00 CEST
Lake Lure, a popular retreat in the west of North Carolina, is closed as cleanup and recovery operations continue. Hurricane Helene caused an estimated $60bn in damage in western North Carolina and killed 250 people across seven states, making it the deadliest hurricane to hit the US mainland since Katrina in 2005 left nearly 1,400 people dead
