dc.title: The viaduct plan: an analysis of community response for Pproposed design intervention following Hurricane Helene within Western North Carolina dc.description.abstract: This report examines community response and recovery processes following Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, with a focus on how stakeholder actions inform future design intervention. While federal frameworks such as the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) emphasize a “whole community” approach, this study argues that recovery does not operate as a singular, unified process. Instead, recovery emerges through decentralized, stakeholder-driven systems that adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research combines qualitative interviews, site observations, and geospatial analysis to examine how different actors (including local governments, emergency responders, non-profits, businesses, and institutions) responded to and navigated pre and post-disaster conditions. Interviews conducted across multiple communities reveal how geographic isolation, infrastructure failure, and communication breakdowns shaped recovery trajectories. These findings are further supported through timeline analysis, which maps stakeholder actions over a six-month period following the storm. Results indicate that recovery occurs in staggered and overlapping phases rather vii than a linear sequence. Stakeholders operated at different speeds, often relying on preexisting relationships, informal networks, and localized knowledge to stabilize conditions before external support systems were fully mobilized. This behavior aligns with characteristics of self-organizing systems, where structure and coordination emerge through interaction rather than centralized control. With a background in Sociology, this analysis is rooted in systems thinking. Informed by planning and design, it moves beyond a purely social lens. My argument is that resilience emerges when the built environment and social networks are understood as one interconnected system, and communities are strengthened by planning and designing for both together. The findings reveal a critical mismatch between the scale and timing of formal recovery frameworks and the realities of on-the-ground response. While federal systems provide essential resources, they often engage after local systems have already begun stabilizing. As a result, recovery is best understood not as a single system, but as a system of interconnected subsystems that function independently before converging. Building on these insights, this report proposes a design intervention: The Viaduct Plan, to that rethink how infrastructure interacts with high-risk landscapes. Rather than relying solely on reactive mitigation strategies, the proposal explores how design can reduce exposure to landslide-prone terrain by altering the relationship between development and the ground itself.