A Premature Fall…

All disasters, whether large or small, are ultimately intimate and personal affairs. A hurricane can damage a large swath of land. It can have huge effects on large portions of the population and the environment. Though, when it is over, it’s on the local level that the real damage is assessed and clean up is begun.

Early in the morning of September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helen made landfall in Florida and quickly moved across the Southeast US. The eye of the storm came right over Aiken, SC, and spawned a few small tornados and wind gusts over 70 mph.   Soon after, I started documenting the effects of the storm on a local park called Carolina Bay Nature Preserve as well as the Aiken, SC, and surrounding area. By looking closely at these trees and areas affected by the storm, I want to show how these once-healthy trees were forced into a premature fall.