When 12-year-old Natalie Briggs visited the ruins of her home after Hurricane Helene, she had to tightrope across a wooden beam to reach what was once her bedroom.
Knots of electrical wires were draped inside the skeleton of the house. Months after the storm, light filtered through breaks in the tarps over the windows. “All I could think of was, ‘This isn’t my house,’” said Natalie, who had been staying in her grandparents' basement.
