Purchases directly support RHSA
Through Our Eyes
A Community’s Photographic Memory of Hurricane Helene
Helene changed the shape of our town. It revealed something deep, too. Neighbors became first responders. Friends became lifelines. Volunteers and local crews carried the work forward, day after day. This book stands as a witness to that care. It is a thank you and a promise to keep going.
Half of the proceeds from every copy go to Rebuild Hot Springs Area.
One year later
The community, in print.
Hurricane Helene reached Hot Springs on September 27, 2024. One year later to the day, the town published its own account of the flood, the days after, and the rebuild.
Through Our Eyes: A Community’s Photographic Memory of Hurricane Helene collects the photographs and stories of 48 local contributors. The book was nominated for the Weatherford Award.
How it was made
A book built by Hot Springs, for Hot Springs.
The book began with an open call for photographs, stories and oral histories from residents who lived through the storm. Hundreds of submissions came in, from first responders and the neighbors who pulled families from danger to snapshots of the rebuild.
It holds more than 200 curated images from 48 community members, and oral histories from the people who led the response in the days after the storm.
It is the first release from the Million Memory Project, made with Rebuild Hot Springs Area and local residents.
What’s inside
From the first warnings to the first reopenings.
- Photographs and stories from the people who lived through the storm
- More than 200 full-color pages
- Chapters that run from the first warnings through the flood, the rebuild, and the first reopenings
- Thanks to the helpers who came when we needed them
Preview a chapter
Turn the pages.
The opening chapter, as it appears in print.
This project is about more than remembering a storm. It’s about honoring the people who carried each other through it, and ensuring that the story is preserved for generations to come.
Kevin Reese
Director of RHSA / Producer of the book
Where the money goes
Every copy moves Hot Springs forward.
50%
Of the proceeds to RHSA
Half of the proceeds from every copy go to Rebuild Hot Springs Area and the projects that move Hot Springs forward.
$10,000
For the fire department
Book sales have also raised $10,000 for the Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department.
Free
Open to everyone
A Digital Opportunities grant from Dogwood Health Trust and support from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries make a free, open-access edition possible. The photographs, transcripts and recordings behind the book are kept for future readers in the Rebuild Hot Springs digital archive.
“Books at their best preserve history, amplify voices, and bring communities together. Rebuild Hot Springs embodies all of that.”
Mitchell Davis
Founder, Million Memory Project
“Libraries are the living memory of our communities, and Rebuild Hot Springs is a remarkable example of that purpose in action.”
Carolyn Morris
VP, Ingram Library Services
Read the full press release, September 2025
On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, the community of Hot Springs is releasing a book unlike any other: Through Our Eyes: A Community’s Photographic Memory of Hurricane Helene. More than a traditional photo book, it is the collective story of a town battered by floodwaters, yet bound together by resilience, memory and hope.
The book was created through an open call for photographs, stories and oral histories from residents who lived through the storm and its aftermath. Hundreds of submissions poured in—from first responders and neighbors who helped pull families from danger to snapshots of the rebuilding process that continues today. The result is a vivid, community-published record. A book built by Hot Springs, for Hot Springs, and one that resonates far beyond the mountains, offering a rare, ground-level view of how a community isolated by disaster turned inward—and to each other—to survive.
Featuring over 200 curated images contributed by 48 community members, along with oral histories from those who helped lead the response in the days after the storm, the full-color book will be available at launch in hardcover.
“This project is about more than remembering a storm,” said local Hot Springs community organizer Kevin Reese. “It’s about honoring the people who carried each other through it, and ensuring that the story is preserved for generations to come.”
The project was supported by a Digital Opportunities grant from Dogwood Health Trust, with additional support from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries toward an open access publication online, ensuring that anyone can freely read and share it.
In addition, the underlying source materials—including photographs, transcripts, and audio recordings—are being preserved and made openly available for researchers, educators, and future generations.
The book is also the first release from the Million Memory Project, a new publishing initiative dedicated to creating community-published books across Appalachia and beyond. Founded by publishing entrepreneur Mitchell Davis—previously a founder of BookSurge (acquired by Amazon and now Kindle Direct Publishing) and BiblioLabs (acquired by Lyrasis)—the Million Memory Project combines professional publishing expertise with grassroots storytelling.
“Books at their best preserve history, amplify voices, and bring communities together,” said Davis. “Rebuild Hot Springs embodies all of that. It shows what can happen when neighbors, institutions, and storytellers work side by side.”
Ingram Content Group featured the project at the North Carolina Library Association Conference, highlighting its innovative publishing model as an example of how communities can take ownership of their own stories.
“Libraries are the living memory of our communities, and Rebuild Hot Springs is a remarkable example of that purpose in action. Ingram Content Group is proud to partner with the Million Memory Project and the Libraries at UNC-Chapel Hill to bring this beautifully produced print edition to readers alongside the open access digital version. This is what collaborative publishing at its best looks like — neighbors telling their own stories and the library community ensuring they endure for future residents to appreciate,” said Carolyn Morris, VP, Ingram Library Services.
This book was made possible by
Through Our Eyes, hardcover
A hardcover edition, with full-color photographs throughout, made to keep. Half of the proceeds go to RHSA.
$55