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

[MarzNC]

This video was shot by a man driving around the NC counties north of Boone. He can't get back to his own farm. The area is rich farmland near the New River.

What was more interesting in some ways was seeing the graphs for water depth gauges at various points on the rivers in the area for Sept. 24-30. Those start at 13:30. At 12:30 there are clips that show the damage to I-40 on the NC side of the NC/TN border. The lane closest to the hillside is passable but the expectation is that rebuilding I-40 to reconnect it to TN will take a year.

October 1, 2024

 

[Andy_ROC]

First part of this video shows where the road to Chimney Rock from Bat Cave used to be . . . unreal. Starting about 6:30, get to see the wind on Sept. 27 and then what his house on the hill looked like after the rain and wind quit. Only way to get supplies like water to Chimney Rock is by airdrop. The bridge to the town of Lake Lure on the other side of Chimney Rock is gone.

Chimney Rock was a private park that became a NC State Park decades ago. I remember visiting with my parents in the 1970s. The village retail strip (3 blocks long) is across the river from the park. Many buildings that were between the 2-lane highway and the river are a total loss, or not even there any more.

October 2, 2024

This is an interview of a long-time business owner in Chimney Rock. He was airlifted out and ended up in the Triangle area. WRAL is my local TV news source.

October 1, 2024

Chimney Rock business district washed away by Hurricane Helene

Gale's Chimney Rock Shop, a souvenir shop, stood in downtown Chimney Rock since 1947. While the building survived the rush of Hurricane Helene, "inside is a disaster."

www.wral.com

That mangled, crushed car in his video tells a lot. Surreal.

 

[Harvey]

No one in the mountains of North Carolina or East Tennessee prepares for a hurricane. It’s kind of like asking why someone in Iowa doesn’t prepare for a tidal wave or why someone in Florida doesn’t prepare for a blizzard. It’s not what happens, like ever.

This is a bit off. I grant that no one prepares for it, but maybe they should.

It's not unheard of for Tropical Storms or Hurricanes to bring massive rainfall hundreds of miles inland. When that happens in the mountains, the situation is exasperated. Vermont was devastated by Irene. Sandy made it pretty far in - West Virginia. It's not like a tidal wave in Iowa, where it's, for all practical purposes, physically impossible.

That said the only effective prep would be evacuating. Is there anything else you can do to get ready for 20 inches of rain?

 

[jamesdeluxe]

who said this? said:
No one in the mountains of North Carolina or East Tennessee prepares for a hurricane. It’s kind of like asking why someone in Iowa doesn’t prepare for a tidal wave or why someone in Florida doesn’t prepare for a blizzard. It’s not what happens, like ever.


That quote ^^ was from the bottom of Marz's post on page 2.

 

[MarzNC]

who said this? said:
No one in the mountains of North Carolina or East Tennessee prepares for a hurricane. It’s kind of like asking why someone in Iowa doesn’t prepare for a tidal wave or why someone in Florida doesn’t prepare for a blizzard. It’s not what happens, like ever.


That quote ^^ was from the bottom of Marz's post on page 2.

@Harvey : It was originally copied by a Ski Diva from a Facebook post made by someone who works in an emergency room in eastern TN. I copied the entire text from her TheSkiDiva post into Post #14. She lives in eastern TN. I've skied with her and a few of her friends at Alta.

 

[MarzNC]

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

When the North Carolina Mountains Become Hurricane Alley

Most of the deaths from Hurricane Helene occurred far from Florida, where the storm first made landfall. Experts say alerts and evacuation orders need to target inland residents too.

www.nytimes.com

" . . .
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.”"

 

[MarzNC]

A mountain biker I like from YouTube lives in the Ashville area. He did a pretty good short report about the storm and his experience.

From what I've seen on the news the scale of damage is hard to comprehend.

Hope you're OK @MarzNC

I realized that Seth has fundraising link on the YouTube webpage for this video.

EDIT addition:
Here's the text introduction on YouTube from Seth.
"It has been a heavy week. We got hit with the remnants of Hurricane Helene as the Asheville, NC metro area and took on over 15 inches of rain in 24 hours. My family and I fared well, but others did not. We're super lucky.

Use the link in the video or a non-profit of your choice to donate to Helene restoration efforts. Better yet, bring sandwiches and coffee to a hospital, firehouse, police station, or group of utility workers. "

 

[MarzNC]

Given the nature of this disaster in the mountains, air drops are being done by several organizations.

Apparently Operation Airdrop, a non-profit based in Texas, was created after a 2017 hurricane. They deploy very quickly to help ferry supplies in the first week or so as other organizations get organized. The website is simple and set up for one operation at a time. Everyone is a volunteer, including all the pilots, local people who help to sort and load aircraft, and those who handle communications with local authorities and logistics. Operation Airdrop based at a local airport near Charlotte. Operations for the NC mountains will end Oct. 4.

About | Operation Airdrop

Learn about Operation Airdrop, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing rapid airborne disaster relief. Founded after Hurricane Harvey, we mobilize volunteer pilots and aircraft to deliver essential supplies to communities in need across Texas.

www.operation-airdrop.com

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Getting people to heed evacuation warnings isn't easy.

In 2019, my father and his wife followed orders to evacuate their home in Northport FL, halfway between Fort Myers and Sarasota, and drove to Columbus GA, where they spent five days at a price-gouging hotel.

Following monumental traffic jams in both directions, they returned to a completely untouched house; however, Punta Gorda only 12 miles away sustained eye-popping damage. Regardless, they and all of their neighbors swore never to evacuate again and would ride out any future storms no matter how bad the warnings. I believe that's a pretty typical mindset, especially in a red-state region that already tends to distrust the government.

 

[Ripitz]

Don’t forget, climate change is a hoax.