Case study
Million Memory Project
Through Our Eyes
A Community’s Photographic Memory of Hurricane Helene
After Hurricane Helene, the people of Hot Springs, North Carolina, told the story themselves. Released on the storm’s first anniversary, the book brings together photographs, captions and firsthand accounts from 48 local contributors.
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.
One year later
The community, in print.
On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene struck the mountains of western North Carolina, leaving behind floods, landslides, and a community forever changed. In the year that followed, neighbors in Hot Springs came together to rebuild homes and lives, and to preserve the memory of what they endured.
The book launched on September 27, 2025, a year after the storm, in hardcover and trade paperback.
How it was made
A book built by Hot Springs, for Hot Springs.
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 community-published record that gives a ground-level view of how a town isolated by disaster turned inward, and to each other, to survive. It holds over 200 curated images from 48 community members, along with oral histories from those who helped lead the response in the days after the storm.
Million Memory Project and Rebuild Hot Springs Area made the book with local residents. It is the first release from Million Memory Project.
What’s inside
From the first warnings to reopening.
- A community-sourced photobook that traces the path from devastation to rebuilding and renewal.
- More than 200 full-color pages, bringing together the sights and stories of those who walked through the storm.
- A journey told in chapters, from the first warnings through the impact, the rebuilding, and the moments of reopening.
- A reflection of love and thanks for the helpers who answered when they were needed most.
Preview a chapter
Turn the pages.
Page through a chapter of the book here, or open it as a PDF.
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.
Every copy supports the recovery.
50% of the proceeds from print editions go directly to Rebuild Hot Springs Area, for long-term recovery for neighbors, small businesses, and community spaces: materials in homes, tools on job sites, and care where it is needed most.
Open to everyone.
A Digital Opportunities grant from Dogwood Health Trust supported the project, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries supported an open access edition online, so anyone can read and share it. The photographs, transcripts, and audio recordings behind the book are being preserved by the UNC Libraries and made openly available.
Recognized.
The book was nominated for the Weatherford Award, recognizing its contribution to Appalachian storytelling and cultural preservation. Ingram Content Group featured the project at the North Carolina Library Association Conference as an example of how communities can take ownership of their own stories.
Books at their best preserve history, amplify voices, and bring communities together. Rebuild Hot Springs embodies all of that. It shows what can happen when neighbors, institutions, and storytellers work side by side.
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.
The book
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Available Now Million Memory ProjectCommunity Storytelling
Through Our Eyes: A Community’s Photographic Memory of Hurricane Helene
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