Hussman grad documents post-Helene recovery
Max Feliu’s “What the Mud Took,” airing on PBS NC, shows western North Carolinians picking up the pieces of their lives.
In addition to Carolina’s Spring Commencement, Max Feliu ’25 had another May date circled on his calendar.
The filmmaker’s nine-minute documentary on life after Hurricane Helene, “What the Mud Took,” aired on PBS North Carolina May 15 as part of its “My Home, NC” series. The production shines a light on the struggles western North Carolina communities faced after Hurricane Helene as the initial media response and national spotlight began to fade.
“This was the greatest graduation gift that anyone could have given me,” said Feliu, a Barcelona native who moved to North Carolina as a teen.
Feliu produced the documentary last fall as part of his Media Hub course at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and also received funding for his work through Honors Carolina.
‘Boots on the ground’ reporting
When the storm hit, Feliu and his Media Hub classmates knew they wanted to report on the recovery efforts. But they intentionally waited until one month had passed before traveling to western North Carolina.
“The angle we took was, ‘What happens when a disaster of this scale happens that will take years to rebuild, but media and news cycles move fast and pull away two weeks after, especially during an election?’” said Feliu, who placed second in innovative journalism with the documentary in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
“The people end up bearing the cost of this.”
Feliu proved that point through Daniel Wright, a Swannanoa resident and award-winning chef/restaurant operator who had just minutes to safely evacuate with his family from their home of 20 years.
Wright had “a very strong voice and a strong story to tell,” Feliu said.
The documentary opens with Wright cleaning up his severely damaged house and discussing the region’s shared struggle: picking up the pieces of their forever-changed lives.
But also evident is the resilience of Wright and others in western North Carolina, something the mud couldn’t take.
“Are you going to stop and give up?” Wright rhetorically asked. “I’ve got a family. I’ve got a job. I’ve got my cats. I have things — I’m not completely broken.”
Feliu also documented recovery efforts by volunteers — from workers clearing mudslides to chefs like Cayte Gowan, who traded restaurant kitchens for outdoor tents to feed the community.
He said his experience in western North Carolina showed him the importance of not only doing research ahead of time but also listening to what people on the ground are saying.
“Being boots on the ground in western North Carolina, I learned that I need to have a perspective going into stories that research is important, but that shouldn’t guide my reporting,” he said. “I should be creating something new and adding to the conversation instead of reciprocating what’s already been said.”
‘Real-life learning’
Weeks removed from graduation, Feliu is getting to work. He’ll spend part of the summer freelancing for the Associated Press at the FIFA Club World Cup and then return to PBS North Carolina to work on its national productions team.
Feliu said his experiences as a student at Hussman — including a Maymester course in which he produced a documentary within a week and a separate filmmaking trip to Argentina — have prepared him for the professional world.
“It’s not just the learning that you have in the classroom,” he said, “but it’s the real-life learning that is professional work.”
One concern voiced by Wright, the documentary’s central figure, is that western North Carolina will be forgotten.
As a video journalist, Feliu is making sure that doesn’t happen.
“I felt this duty to my story subjects,” Feliu said, “because they invested so much in my ability to tell their story.”
