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Photographs capture moments in your life from a childhood birthday party to your wedding and the birth of your first child, as well as everything in-between. These pictures help you remember both poignant moments and everyday life. It’s no wonder that they are treasured.
That’s why losing photographs in natural disasters like hurricanes and fires is devastating. The images of the destruction from Hurricane Helene and the California wildfires that are seen in the news shows how widespread the damage is, reported CBS News. But there are other images that have also come from the waters and ash; family photos of happier times and milestones.
When one North Carolina woman, Taylor Schenker, found herself in possession of 200 family photos that didn’t belong to her, she realized that she had to reunite the images with their owners. It became her mission.
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Discovering Treasures in North Carolina
While Schenker’s home weathered Hurricane Helene in September 2025, her friend’s home in Asheville was destroyed by the flooding of the Swannanoa River. Schenker and her friend walked – the roads were blocked – to check the condition of the home.
“We spent about four hours digging through the mud, looking for any belongings of hers we could find, because her house literally just doesn't exist anymore,” Schenker told CBS News.
“And during that process, I found about four of five individual photographs and we laid out the photos – along with some clothes and we found an American flag – along the bank, hoping they would be reunited with people.”
These photos haunted her and kept her up at night. She went back the next day and found more photos from multiple families. “It was [a photo of] a middle school basketball team. It was a photo of a beloved dog. I found a wedding photo of a bride hugging somebody,” she said. “You take photos because you have a moment you want to remember and so, they did all seem just special.”
She started the Photos from Helene Instagram page as a virtual lost and found and hoped that through the page and word of mouth, the photos could be reunited with their owners.
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Making Matches
When Schenker made her first match, she got chills and then sat in her car and cried, reported AP News. She has been able to make 70 matches to date.
Some of them were hand delivered like the ones that were lost by Mary Moss who lost her home and car to the flood waters. “It was really kind of overwhelming at first when she handed me those pictures. I just couldn’t even speak,” Moss said. “You don’t expect something as fragile as photos to be retrieved.”
While homes and cars can be replaced, Moss lost everything she had of her son Tommy who died when he was 12. “It’s those memories and the little things, the photos, that you can’t replace,” she said.
In the photos that Schenker found almost three miles (five kilometers) from the Moss’s home, were snapshots of Tommy, when he was two-years-old dressed as an angel for a Christmas pageant. In another he is playing with his brother.
“It is just breathtaking,” Moss said. “This is one thing that the river didn’t get to take — or didn’t get to keep.”
Out of the Ashes
Lost images are also being discovered from the January 2025 California wildfires. More than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) in the foothills of Los Angeles, Claire Schwartz began to collect photos with the idea of posting the found images online and reuniting them with owners.
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After the Eaton fire, but before the first rain, she realized that the photos had to be rescued before they were destroyed. So while wearing a respirator, nitrile gloves, and booties, Schwartz went to work looking for photos to salvage. She collected them – along with yearbook pages and children’s art in front yards, parks, and even a golf course.
“The wind has scattered everything, everywhere. And trash is mixed in with precious mementos, everywhere you look,” Schwartz said. “It’s just absolutely bizarre how stuff clumps together and travels as a unit.”
While normally lost items are returned to local libraries, the Altadena Public Library burned to the ground. Now librarians are redirecting people to bring the photos to Schwartz.
She is preserving the photos using methods she learned as an archival intern, by protecting the photos in acid-free glassine envelopes and storing them in a waterproof box.
Schwartz made her first match earlier in February, an image of teenagers in prom dresses and tiaras. While the image was damaged it can still bring back poignant memories.
While tragedies like hurricanes and wildfires are devastating to the survivors, catastrophic events can bring people together and strengthen community bonds. Schenker and Schwartz have certainly risen to the occasion.
“Disasters like this really bring out the best in people,” Moss said. “You know, I can laugh or I can cry about it — and I choose to laugh about it. Fortunately, we didn’t lose the most important thing. That’s lives.”
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