Hurricane Helene Recovery Two Years Later with Steve Marks

Steve Marks is the Executive Director of Watauga Long-Term Recovery Group and the Fire Chief of Cove Creek Fire Department. With over 40 years in firefighting, a Master's in Emergency Management, a Master's in Divinity, and a background in storm chasing and meteorology, Steve has spent his life responding to crisis. But two years after Hurricane Helene devastated the High Country of North Carolina, his work is far from over.

In this episode, we sit down with Steve on the eve of Helene's second anniversary to talk about what long-term recovery actually looks like, why 200 households in Watauga County are still receiving active support, and the misconception that we've moved on. We get into the first 10 days after the storm when communications went dark and volunteer crews operated without radios, the stories of water rescues and neighbors clinging to trees in floodwaters, and the quiet leadership of a community-driven recovery group that has become a model across Western North Carolina.

Steve walks us through his origin story as a firefighter, tracing it back to 1972 when his parents bought a fire scanner and drove him to watch the big fires. We talk about his years chasing tornadoes across the Great Plains, punching hail cores with National Weather Service forecasters, and the moment in Spencer, South Dakota, when storm chasing lost its appeal after witnessing the human cost of severe weather. We also discuss his unexpected and reluctant calling into ministry, his time as a hospital chaplain learning to sit in silence with people in crisis, and how God kept pulling him into roles he never wanted but couldn't refuse.

From emergency response to seminary, from disaster preparedness to centering prayer, this is a conversation about showing up, listening, and making space for what matters. Steve's vision for the High Country is simple: that those who have would care for those who have not, and that we'd all move from just living to flourishing together.

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