Catastrophic Flooding in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee- Why Is It So Bad There?

Overview of the catastrophic and unprecedented flooding in western North Carolina, Easten Tennessee, and the southern Appalachian region in general, to also include Southwestern Virginia, Southern West Virginia, South Carolina and virtually all of GA.

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[jackphillips]

Dude, donating money is actually better. Although you point out "middle men", anything you donate has to be collected, collated, and transported. If money is available, charities can buy and match donations from companies - like Walmart for example, that has distribution centers and can easily be loaded and trucked in. Direct food, water, and clothing donations are really only beneficial if you are in the local area where it can be used immediately.

[docspidey]

Meteorologist here. As you described, the topography played a major role. The process of moisture rising due to terrain is known as mechanical forcing (or orographic lift), further enhancing rainfall as moisture condensed in higher altitudes. This isn't the entire story though. Leading up to Helene moving through the mountains, a Predecessor Rainfall Event (PRE) was taking place. In some places, over a foot of rain fell before Helene even made landfall. The PRE was due to the synoptic (large scale meteorology) setup of the eastern US. A deep trough in the Ohio Valley spawned a relatively strong localized jet streak (strong high level winds) along the Appalachian mountains, with western North Carolina falling into what is known as the "right entrance region", a region that is favorable for rising motion and hence storm development. This low pressure system stalled and closed off as Helene's low pressure entered the region and began curving west to ultimately combine into the existing system. All of these factors (synoptic forcing, mechanical forcing, stalled boundary and stalled closed off low, and unprecedented moisture from the Gulf of Mexico) lead to the record rainfall. On top of that, the mountains acted as large funnels to force the rain down into the valleys which is ultimately where most of the population and infrastructure is located.

[mobyjoe]

I was searching for news on the real scope of what is happening with this hurricane and The Geography King puts this video out coving all the bases. THANK YOU KYLE. Prayers for all those who were affected and suffered from this hurricane. 🙏🙏

[HistoryNerd]

Having a ton of rain in a mountain valley rarely ends well. The pictures and video of Helene's wrath are just horrific.

[PeytonDrums]

In JC right now at ETSU. We are devastated but trying our best. Man it's crazy because I took I26 to Asheville on Labor Day! Man I really hope we get out of this on a brighter side.

[savannah]

Thanks for this overview. Respectfully, I must disagree with your suggestion that people not donate money. I work in disaster relief, and that is actually horrible advice...cash can be used anywhere, for anything, and is easily transferred and easily matched by big corporations. Food and water tend to pile up where they aren't needed, and it's hard to transport them to the places they are. Unwanted clothes actually become a huge garbage problem-don't donate clothes unless specifically asked to. Much better to send cash and then the people who need help can decide how to use it best.

If you refuse to send cash, diapers and women's sanitary supplies are a decent second choice, as they are expensive, always needed, and relatively lightweight.

Thanks for shedding light on this area...Appalachia is so often overlooked.

[SHWEATyEDDiE_fo]

I have family near Black Mountain that are stranded but hanging in there. Prayers for all ❤

[dalkonshield]

Im a longtime subscriber who lives in WNC. This is my first day on the internet since the storm hit, i was trapped in the woods for days and many neighbors lost their homes and cars. Thank you for making this, it helped me understand what happened to my region a little bit better. The last few days have been every bit as horrific here as the news is portraying.

[WillWright-OmegaCustomBuilders]

I live in Cherokee, NC on the Qualla Boundary. I am an enrolled member of the EBCI. There is only one community that doesn't have power or cell coverage right now. The rest of us never lost the electricity but for the first 3 days after the initial hit of the main storm, we didn't have cell coverage. But as of yesterday evening, we regained phone service. We are very lucky, but please pray for the rest of our neighbors here in WNC and the whole southeast. It's a very sad and tragic time for some of us!!! But, we are a strong people here in the south and will make it out of this!!! Thank you for all the love and support. GOD BLESS...

[GritsandGraceSF]

Greene County Tn here, and it's a mess. We have lost nearly all our bridges in the county, and some parts of the county are landlocked because of that. We have no water in Greene County at all. Some of us have no power or internet, and clean-up is an all-day thing. Terrible situation for about 6 states. Prayers to everyone involved.

[JasonMoir]

So sad to see what's happened to western NC. It's bad here in the foothills so I can't imagine what it is like further up the mountains.

[bob_._.]

For those who don't know, the Appalachians there are composed of soft, decomposing sandstone with just a thin layer of topsoil. They can take a couple inches of rain an hour for an hour and a half or so; beyond that, things start moving downhill.

[justinlane]

I live in Hickory NC, and luckily damage was minor here. It’s heartbreaking that my neighbors are suffering. The Hickory airport is actually sending helicopters to the areas hardest hit with supplies and aiding in evacuations. The Village of Chimney Rock has been mostly wiped off the map. Hoping these people are not soon forgotten. It’s going to be a long difficult road ahead.

[markpatoka]

We're in east TN about a half hour from much of the flooding. One factor not mentioned anywhere is we had 3 days of solid rain before the hurricane hit. The waterways were already getting pushed to the limits and the hurricane pushed it over the edge. If we didn't get all that rain beforehand, my assumption is most of the dams would've had no problem controlling the hurricane rain.

[earnedmystripes]

My brother is an IT and Communications director in Madison County, TN. He was part of a team dispatched to Unicoi County, TN. He will run a communications truck but unfortunately they also brought 2 morgue trailers. Incredibly bad situation.

[madmaxdystopia]

I live about 20 miles west of Knoxville TN and we just took an SUV full of bottled water, first aid supplies, diapers and pet food to the local democrat headquarters who are taking a truck trailer load of these items to the Erwin TN rescue center. If you are too far away to provide goods please donate to the response efforts in North Carolina and upper East Tennessee. It’s unbelievable how many lives this has changed so fast.

[joshf]

Damaged from Florida to Ohio. Eastern TN and Western NC was hit the hardest but man this is just the beginning of hurricanes can keep its strength all the way to Lake Ohio. Portsmouth Ohio was flooded and Columbus, Ohio had rain for days and some flooding. Like, this is crazy that not even the mountains or being in land can save you.

[Another_taco.Yes_please]

I didn't even think about the people camping and hiking! The first thing I did think of was if you had stocked up and your house is flooded or washed away, what then? This is awful and I do believe the death toll will never be complete but will be high. I live down on the NC coast and I'm used to hurricanes. This is madness.

[XtremiTeez]

This is NOT what happened. I am in Haywood County. We were getting rain for a full TWO DAYS before Helene even arrived. A cold front moved in Tuesday night, and it started raining, non-stop. When Helene was approaching Florida on Thursday night, the upper level outflow from Helene started to feed more moisture into the stalled front. We already had over 10-15" of rain by that time. When Helene finally arrived Friday morning, we were already starting to flood in places. Helene blew through in less than 24 hours and was gone by Saturday morning. The total from the original rain from the storm front AND Helene was 20" to 30" in 72 hours. This would have happened ANYWHERE that got 30" of rain in 72 hours.

[americansmark]

Dropping off a tote of canned food tomorrow with a local organization that is flying a Blackhawk down to bring supplies.