Martín Hernández lived in a mobile home with his wife and two step-children at the edge of a North Carolina tobacco field for 12 years; his family has been on the same plot of land for four decades.
But the undocumented farmworker had zero protection when Hurricane Florence destroyed everything he owned, including their home. After so many years contributing to the state’s economy, “a little bit of help would be nice,” he says. But in the end, he says, “I may just go back to my country.”
This story is part of Unseen, a series exploring how climate change related severe storms are impacting immigrant workers in southern Appalachia. Read more from the series here.