The Front Lines of Hurricane Helene: A Healthcare Worker’s Story

“They’re still recovering bodies. It’s the third deadliest hurricane behind Katrina and Camille,” said Yvette Vega, a Carpinteria-native and healthcare professional living in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It’s a small community here, so if you don’t know someone directly, you know someone who does.”

Vega was fortunate enough to miss Hurricane Helene’s full force. “We didn’t have power for 12 hours, but when the sun went down, it was so beautiful you wouldn’t have guessed a hurricane had come through.” 

The family of Vega’s partner, Jacob, live in a town northwest of Charlotte called Boone. They were not as fortunate. Hurricane Helene’s fury wiped out their digital communications, electricity, and water, leaving the rest of the family in the dark about their safety for two whole days. 

“After the third day of no contact, we made the trip to find them. What was usually an hour and a half drive became three and a half hours,” Vega shared. While Jacob’s relatives are safe and have regained power, they’re still encouraged to boil their water for fears of it containing bacteria and other living contaminants. 

Vega continued, “Some houses in North Carolina are not expected to have power or running water for another six months.” As a witness on the front lines of the healthcare industry, Vega could not help but make parallels to a past, familiar tragedy. 

“Hurricane Helene reminds me of the Montecito Mudslides. Even after six years, when you drive through Montecito, you still see the boulders that came down. And Montecito is affluent; rebuilding a town like Boone, which relies heavily on tourism, will take much longer.” 

On the topic of resources, Vega lamented how the stereotypes of Appalachia might dissuade people from taking Hurricane Helene victims seriously. “The stereotype that everyone here leans towards one side of the political spectrum isn’t true, and jeopardizes our legitimacy in receiving aid after disasters. Appalachia, in fact, reminds me of the tight-knit community in Carpinteria.” 

Vega was born and raised in Carpinteria, attending Crane Country Day School and Cate before heading to San Francisco to study Neuropsychology at University of San Francisco. Straight out of school, she started as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the ALBA Language Neurobiology Lab, working with patients who suffer a very specific type of dementia that affects language neural networks.

“Being multilingual – knowing English, Spanish, and French – has made me aware of the many social disparities within clinical research, trials, and treatments.” Her expertise as a researcher and communicator caught the attention of Meta; while she earned her master’s in public health at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, she worked full time at Meta in their User Experience Global Research Department.

But Vega knew where her passions truly lay. “While I loved research and working in tech, I felt like my contributions to the general population were minimal and I wanted to return
to healthcare.”

After six years in San Francisco Vega moved to Charlotte, North Carolina – not only to pursue her passion for healthcare, but to be closer to family and better investment opportunities. At only 26 years old, she works as the Program Manager for Neurosurgery and Spine at Atrium Health Hospital. “I’m on the surgeon’s schedule. If I’m in California and they call saying they need me tomorrow morning at 6 am, I’m on a plane.” 

Vega credits her ambitious spirit and career successes to her USF undergraduate professor and mentor, Dr. Saralyn Ruff. “I have met very few professors that genuinely care for the well-being of their students wholeheartedly. I would not be where I am without the guidance of Dr. Ruff. Our educational system would be better if all students had an individual like her in their lives.”

Vega plans to continue her work in healthcare, helping North Carolinians rebuild after Hurricane Helene and future disasters to come. Vega enthusiastically shared, “I love my job and feel that my involvement – from administration, to nurses, to surgeons and patients – has allowed my team and me to produce the best possible patient outcomes in the southeast.”