As North Carolina Flooded, My Home State Turned From Climate Haven to Calamity
After the fire had retreated and the evacuation orders were lifted, my mother took me on a walk through our backyard. The pale dust of the southern California landscape had turned black with soot, and the desert creatures — quails and rattlesnakes — were frozen, ash-coated, in Pompeian tableaus. My family was lucky: While other homes on the block were reduced to rubble, we just had to contend with…