Aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the NC mountains, late fall 2024

Campgottagopee said:
During the early 70's I was in elementary school. We'd have air raid drills. A horn would sound off, and all the kids would walk in a single file line across the street to the bomb shelter in the basement of a church. I'll never forget it.
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Yup I remember doing those circa late 60's to early 70s. We even did drills to duck under our little school desks!
 
Andy_ROC said:
Yup I remember doing those circa late 60's to early 70s. We even did drills to duck under our little school desks!
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aah "the bend over and kiss your ass goodbye" drill!
 
gorgonzola said:
aah "the bend over and kiss your ass goodbye" drill!
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I was walking down 21st in NYC last week..I noticed all of the Fallout Shelter signs on the buildings..
 
MarzNC said:
Getting people to heed evacuation warnings isn't easy. Plus people who have lived for a few generations in small mountain towns and villages don't necessarily spend much time online and may have spotty cell coverage at best.

Even in the city, some people were slow to react to warnings about flooding. I was surprised to see that U-Haul didn't move all their trucks to higher ground from the lot on Swannanoa River Road, right next to the Swannanoa River. Same for people who left cars in the River Arts district. Wouldn't need to go that far in Asheville. It's a city built on hills. Another business near that river is Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. They moved all their animals to safe (hopefully) foster care homes. I know it well because that's where my daughter's cat came from.

I remember a storm when the NC coastal flooding was average, but the inland flooding was severe because where the storm stalled out and dumped rain for 2-3 days. Some people is some towns on rivers stayed put and came to regret the decision. Fair to say that old towns founded over 150 years ago and often right on a riverbank.

October 3, 2024
" . . .
Lisa Bryson, 47, of West Asheville, thinks local officials and media “put out plenty of warnings” about Helene. She just wishes she had paid more heed.

“I think from here on out if they say it’s going to be bad,” she said, “we’ll be prepared.”
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Evacuation is expensive. You know the statistic that a majority of Americans couldn't come up with 500 cash in an emergency? Not everyone is walking around with a Mastercard in their pocket with plenty of room on it for a week or two stay in the next state. Western NC is far from the richest place in America. I would guess most are just getting by.
And then there's pets. Most motels don't accept dogs and cats.
 
Benny Profane said:
Evacuation is expensive. You know the statistic that a majority of Americans couldn't come up with 500 cash in an emergency? Not everyone is walking around with a Mastercard in their pocket with plenty of room on it for a week or two stay in the next state. Western NC is far from the richest place in America. I would guess most are just getting by.
And then there's pets. Most motels don't accept dogs and cats.
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Quite true.

However, the situation for Asheville is a very mixed bag when it comes to personal financial status. Go back 20-30 years and the average income was probably much lower. The newcomers who are retirees in that particular area are pretty well off. Some of the houses cut off because roads were washed away are 3000+ sq ft. Just as there were people around Lake Placid who could write big checks to help fund local efforts to fix roads and bridges quickly after a storm that hit a couple weeks before the important fall colors tourist season.
 
Benny Profane said:
Evacuation is expensive. You know the statistic that a majority of Americans couldn't come up with 500 cash in an emergency? Not everyone is walking around with a Mastercard in their pocket with plenty of room on it for a week or two stay in the next state. Western NC is far from the richest place in America. I would guess most are just getting by.
And then there's pets. Most motels don't accept dogs and cats.
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Definitely true. I also think people play the odds game because the scale of the event is inconceivable, even when warned repeatedly.
 
Andy_ROC said:
Definitely true. I also think people play the odds game because the scale of the event is inconceivable, even when warned repeatedly.
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But, were there warnings in Asheville? Did anybody expect 22 inches of rain? Maybe some, of course, but this came on quick and was far from expected.

There's a lot of people from Florida and gulf areas that can tell you about evacuating the family once or twice for dud storms in the past.
 
Benny Profane said:
But, were there warnings in Asheville? Did anybody expect 22 inches of rain? Maybe some, of course, but this came on quick and was far from expected.

There's a lot of people from Florida and gulf areas that can tell you about evacuating the family once or twice for dud storms in the past.
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I believe there were ample warnings...
apnews.com

Soul-searching and regret over unheeded warnings follow Helene's destruction

Before Hurricane Helene's landfall last week the National Weather Service began an all-out blitz to alert emergency planners, first responders and residents of the impending perils.
apnews.com apnews.com
 
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