On a quiet bend of the Cane River in Burnsville, N.C., Blair Belt-Clark built a tiny house with her own hands to raise her twins in the “earth magic” of Appalachia. When Hurricane Helene hurled the river over its banks in September 2024, it swept away her organic farm, her tiny house and the future she’d imagined for her family.

“How do you make peace with something that was so tender, that turned so horrible?” Blair asks, as she navigates her new reality.

Eight months later, Blair finds herself confronting betrayal by the water she once cherished, as she reconciles with nature’s devastating power while raising toddlers in its aftermath.

As Blair tends to the altered riverbanks, she begins the delicate process of forgiving the river that once represented safety, working to build a new relationship that might someday heal the scars Helene left behind.