Thursday, November 7th, 3:30-5:00 pm PT
On Zoom and at University of California Irvine, SBSG 3323
With Journal of DIsaster Studies authors
Erin Eldridge (University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
Amanda Reinke (Kennesaw State University)
joined by community respondents
Mac Legerton (Robeson County Cooperative for Sustainable Development)
Rebecca Witter (Appalachian State University)
Dana Powell (Taipei Medical University)
In early September 2018, Hurricane Florence devastated the east coast of the United States, with especially intense rain and flooding in North Carolina. In a powerful article published in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Disaster Studies, anthropologists Erin Eldridge and Amanda Reinke describe the slow disaster that unfolded in the aftermath as mold took over people’s water-damaged homes. Their analysis focuses on ways mold was left out of disaster recovery efforts led by state and federal bureaucracies and on ways recovery workers, legal advocates, and survivors navigated the contradictions. The story is about ways fast disasters turn into slow disasters, calling for new forms of disaster governance.
In the wake of Hurricane Helene – which devastated North Carolina in September 2024 – the significance of Eldridge and Reinke’s article redoubles, directing attention to disaster recovery challenges ahead, and to enduring questions about disaster justice and accountability.
This open seminar will begin with a discussion about Eldridge and Reinke article, “Waiting in Mold After Hurricanes and Flooding,” then will move to a discussion about its implications in the wake of Hurricane Helene and for just disaster recovery more broadly. Community respondents will include people directly impacted by Hurricane Helene and people who led just recovery efforts after Hurricane Florence. Please join us!
Seminar participants are asked to read Erin and Amanda’s article in advance, along with select news items about Hurricane Helene and an account of the Robeson County Disaster Survival and Resilience School.