Science Friday

Fifty-three days after Hurricane Helene, residents of Asheville can safely drink their tap water without boiling it. Why did it take so long? And, tribes’ historic lands on the Gulf Coast are being lost to the sea. To slow it down, one tribe has turned to oyster shells.The Struggle To Restore Drinking Water After Hurricane HeleneWhen Hurricane Helene barrelled through the southeastern US in September, it dumped an estimated 40 trillion gallons of water on the region. That resulted in immense flooding that destroyed roads, buildings, power lines, and other infrastructure.And it also impacted the region’s potable water supply. For weeks, residents in Asheville, North Carolina, didn’t have access to clean drinking water because the extensive flooding washed large amounts of sediment into the local reservoir. As of Monday, limited access to potable water was restored, marking the first time in 53 days that local residents didn’t have to boil tap water to drink it.Before that access was restored, we heard from lis