Two fires are now burning in western North Carolina's McDowell County, just four months after it was hard-hit by Hurricane Helene.

Months of neglect from federal officials threatened to combine the worst elements of two recent major disasters. Fortunately, residents in western North Carolina, a region ravaged by Hurricane Helene in September and then largely ignored by former President Joe Biden's Federal Emergency Management Agency for months thereafter,

Despite the monumental deluge Helene dumped on the region in late September and the catastrophic flooding, officials have warned about elevated wildfire risks.