Cruso

Jesse Barber

The flooding photos of Cruso was for an assignment for Washington Post about the rising amount of billion-dollar disasters in the US. We drove into the campground where Sherri lives and has been working to clean up the debris a year later after the storm. She wept as she reflected on that time. The effects of the storm were still very present.

I asked the Mayor of Canton, Zeb Smathers, if I could make his portrait in the river after hearing him talk about jumping in the water to help pull people out. He had been a strong leader in the response and preparedness for the next storm. 

The last two photos were after some flooding in Hickory, NC. I drove around town trying to look for places hardest hit from the flooding. After taking a random side road I ran into this man looking at his washed-out bridge, which the cost would have to come from his own funds.

These experiences and later experiencing the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene have shown me how these effects are sometimes hard to see how they affect people’s lives and that these events have massive personal costs, in money and in lives. It’s hard to tell how many people are struggling from past flooding events and how many others might be struggling now from these costs. My hope is that these people and communities can be heard and seen for the long road of recovery ahead.