Helene Listening Day documents hurricane oral histories at BRAHM - Published Sept. 23, 2025

Story written by: Kait Honeycutt and Colin Wishneski

Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, WFDD — an NPR public radio station in Winston-Salem — and App State faculty hosted a Hurricane Helene Listening Day event in Blowing Rock Saturday. 

This event was open to the public, allowing anyone affected by Helene to share personal stories broadcasted across the state. Various news organizations partnered with BRAHM to circulate the recordings, including North Carolina’s state magazine, Our State. 

Community members were greeted in the foyer and taken into individual recording booths where they were interviewed by App State faculty. BRAHM partnered with Belk Library and Information Common’s oral history program to create a list of interview questions to ask attendees during the recordings.

WFDD partnered with BRAHM to promote the event and also circulate the stories on their station. Selections from these interviews will air in the coming weeks throughout 32 North Carolina counties on stations 88.5, covering the Piedmont area, and 100.1, which covers the High Country.