The Margin

Pursuing Higher Ground: Six Months After the Hurricane That Changed Appalachia

Christian Monterrosa, Trey Walk, Bryce Cracknell

The Margin created an interactive, photo-driven news feature that captures and examines the human and environmental toll of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina in September 2024. The project includes more than 50 photographs, an interactive map that uses NOAA rainfall and wind speed data to illustrate the storm’s scale and impact, and “before-and-after” sliders that feature high-resolution satellite imagery and drone footage to show storm-ravaged neighborhoods months after the floodwaters receded. 

The visual and written elements of the feature “built off and complemented each other,” one judge wrote. “I have no qualms, complaints or suggestions. I would neither take anything away nor add anything else to the storytelling. No piece of this was wasted.”

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Pursuing Higher Ground