We’ve been lucky to escape many natural disasters despite living in the American South for 20 years. But all good things must pass. We arrived home after a short book event weekend a few weeks ago to discover how badly our home and city has been ravaged by the after-effects of Hurricane Helene. Parts of the city is underwater. Our home is still standing but buried under giant trees. Many businesses we have come to love and adore are devastated.

I usually talk about writerly stuff at SleuthSayers, the mystery blog, but this week I naturally felt compelled to share my eyewitness report of what we’ve experience on the ground here in Asheville, North Carolina…