It will be "a long road ahead" toward rebuilding the infrastructure of communities in western North Carolina that were heavily battered by Hurricane Helene, says Chris Moody, a lecturer in journalism at Appalachian State University. He also adds, "This is a region that people have talked about as being kind of immune to the extreme effects of climate change. And I think we're going to be rethinking that, of this as just some kind of safe haven — that yes, we do have to be prepared."