HENDERSON COUNTY, North Carolina — Once again, I found myself staring at a crack in a large rock on the side of a mountain. It was June, and rainy, and I was searching for a glossy amphibian called the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander. These animals, about the length of a human finger, are black with splotches of mint green. That makes them nearly invisible against the lichen-covered rocks they typically hide in.

I had previously traveled here — to this very rock — in the spring of last year for a story about the salamanders of southern Appalachia. They are spectacular. With somewhere around a hundred species, the region, and particularly western North Carolina, near Asheville, is a global salamander hot spot. It has a higher concentration of salamanders than anywhere else in the world.

At the time of my 2024 visit, some of Appalachia’s salamanders, including the Hickory Nut Gorge green, were already in trouble. These amphibious animals have an incredibly small range — they’re found only in one valley, the Hickory Nut Gorge, southwest of Asheville. Commercial development, logging, and other threats shrank their population from as many as tens of thousands to just 300 to 500 individuals total, according to recent estimates. In 2021, North Carolina listed them as endangered and, in 2024, federal officials said protection under the Endangered Species Act may be warranted.

Then came Hurricane Helene.

The storm, which struck North Carolina in late September, killed dozens of people. It destroyed thousands of homes, many of which are still in pieces today. But it also took a severe toll on the state’s wildlife, the species that make southern Appalachia so unique. Record flooding, landslides, and even some of the recovery efforts have drastically changed the landscape that salamanders rely on. This sudden destruction of habitat — some areas look as though they’ve been clearcut — is pushing the region’s most endangered species even closer to extinction.

So this June, I came back to witness a rescue mission. Flooding from Helene uprooted the forest around one of the only known breeding populations of Hickory Nut Gorge green salamanders, which makes up a significant portion of the entire species. It’s not clear whether they will survive without trees or withstand another severe weather event. Government forecasters have again predicted an above-average hurricane season this year and central North Carolina has already faced deadly flooding from the remnants of storm Chantal, which struck parts of the state earlier this month. In the long term, warming from climate change is expected to intensify both hurricanes and flooding.

Now, to save this population of greens — and perhaps the entire species — scientists are working quickly to bring a number of them into captivity. It’s a strategy that’s increasingly common in a heavily altered world: To save animals from blinking........

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