Author: M. Roby, Staff Writer | ☀
Climate Risks Grow After Hurricanes Helene & Milton Hit America’s East Coast
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season provided a sobering reminder that the United States remains highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones, storm surge, extreme rainfall, and flooding. Among the most consequential storms were Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which struck the southeastern United States in September and October. Their destruction demonstrated the importance of disaster preparedness and renewed attention to the relationship between climate change and hurricane-related risks.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on September 26, 2024, as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Its impacts extended far inland, with catastrophic flooding affecting communities in western North Carolina and other parts of the Southeast. The storm caused widespread destruction of homes, roads, bridges, utilities, and businesses. Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast in October, bringing destructive winds, flooding, and storm-related hazards.
The two hurricanes illustrated why assessments of climate risk must extend beyond coastal areas. Tropical cyclones can produce devastating rainfall hundreds of miles inland, particularly when mountainous terrain enhances precipitation or when drainage systems become overwhelmed. Communities far from the ocean may therefore face serious hurricane-related risks.
Climate change affects several components of tropical cyclone hazards. Rising sea levels increase the baseline water level against which storm surges occur, making coastal flooding more dangerous. Warmer ocean waters can provide additional energy to storms, while a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor and contribute to heavier rainfall. Research also indicates that some tropical cyclones are intensifying more rapidly, although trends vary by basin and period.
These connections do not mean climate change alone caused Helene or Milton. Individual storms arise from a combination of atmospheric conditions, ocean temperatures, wind patterns, and other factors. Scientific attribution examines how warming changes the probability or intensity of particular hazards rather than assuming a single cause for every event.
The economic effects were enormous. Damaged homes and businesses disrupted employment, supply chains, and local tax revenues. Power outages interrupted essential services, while damaged roads and bridges complicated evacuations and rescue operations. For families without sufficient insurance or savings, recovery can take years.
The storms also revealed disparities in disaster vulnerability. Older adults, people with disabilities, low-income households, and residents in isolated communities may have fewer options for evacuation and recovery. Some rural communities face particular challenges when a small number of roads provide their only access to hospitals, emergency services, and supplies.
Improving resilience requires investments before disasters occur. Flood-risk maps should account for changing conditions rather than relying exclusively on historical experience. Communities can strengthen building standards, protect wetlands, improve drainage, reinforce electrical infrastructure, and avoid placing new development in especially hazardous locations.
Reliable warnings are equally important. Residents need clear evacuation instructions, accessible emergency communications, and practical assistance reaching safer locations. Recovery programs should prioritize resilient rebuilding rather than simply reconstructing vulnerable infrastructure in its previous form.
Climate mitigation remains essential. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions cannot eliminate hurricanes, but it can limit additional warming and reduce the future intensification of certain hazards.
Helene and Milton demonstrated that climate resilience is not merely a long-term environmental objective. It is an immediate public safety and economic necessity. The United States must prepare for the hazards it faces today while reducing the emissions that will shape tomorrow’s risks.
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