Regarding Hurricane Helene

Our home, Haywood County in Western North Carolina, has a history of serious flooding. In September 2004 we had two catastrophic floods a week apart, associated with two separate Atlantic hurricanes.  Areas along or near the Pigeon River, primarily the towns of Canton and Clyde, sustained profound damage. It was commonly said that these were unimaginable events, with water levels never seen before. That wasn’t completely true; there were a few older people who recalled the last major flood in 1940, which had seen similar water levels. It was widely recognized following these 2004 floods that action needed to be taken to prepare for the possibility of similar flooding in the future. Much was done; many people moved to safer areas away from the flood plains, public funds were used to buy out some homeowners in particularly flood-prone locations.  Across the river from the town of Clyde a  flood park was constructed to serve as a spillway that would direct future flood waters away from the town into an area better able to accommodate them. The following seven pictures are from 2004:

The recovery from the 2004 floods took many years; people living close to the river still got nervous during periods of heavy rainfall, but in general the county prospered with new businesses and people moving in. Our children grew up, thrived, and moved away. Then in September 2021 as part of Tropical Storm Fred, the county experienced unprecedented flash flooding and landslides following heavy rainfall on the steep upper slopes of the Pigeon River headwaters. Water levels rose rapidly and unexpectedly. There was inadequate time to warn downstream residents and six people were killed.  Canton, the highest town in the watershed, was again extensively damaged. The mitigation efforts taken following the 2004 floods were helpful thankfully; further downstream the flood park worked as designed and the town of Clyde escaped major damage.

Again, thoughtful and intelligent public officials expended great effort planning how to best rebuild and prepare for future flooding. Again, many people did not rebuild in previously flooded zones. A new system of river gauges were installed in the upper reaches of the Pigeon River watershed to better detect potential flooding.  Systems were designed to facilitate better communication of potential or actual flooding to those at risk. 

Then two weeks ago came Hurricane Helene. The potential danger of this storm was realized several days in advance and extensive efforts were made to advise our residents and prepare for a disaster.  Some flood prone areas were evacuated in advance. In spite of this and the years of previous efforts, the damage Haywood County has sustained from Hurricane Hellene is immense. Pigeon River water levels rose higher than ever previously recorded; sections of Canton and Clyde have again been devastated, areas flooded that have not flooded previously, close to 50 landslides occurred, roads and bridges were washed out, and a four mile section of Interstate 40 in our county suffered damage to if not complete destruction of multiple lanes.

Most significantly, this destruction in Haywood County is just a small part of the Hurricane Helene disaster. Previous flood events have affected certain river drainages in a number of counties, but the damage from Helene is spread throughout a several state region. More than 200 lives have been lost, many people are still missing, the city of Asheville has sustained catastrophic damage, several smaller towns around Asheville have been devastated. There is widespread disruption of water, electric, Internet, and cellular service; multiple roads and bridges have been destroyed.

Can any level of preparation or foresight realistically mitigate the effects of a weather event of this magnitude? Throughout Western North Carolina 10 to 20 inches of rain fell over a three day period, several areas got 25 inches and there’s one report of 31 inches north of Asheville. I suppose it’s just physics: this volume of water falling in a short period of time on steep slopes above confined valleys is going to cause catastrophic damage. How does the area recover? A local newspaper reports that 98% of the homeowners in Asheville do not have flood or landslide coverage as part of their home insurance policies. Why would you need flood coverage if you don’t live in a area considered at risk for flooding? And in what manner should you rebuild when your central business districts and major highways are now in the floodplain? And how many 100 and 500 year floods can an area survive? 

In  Haywood County we have now had four catastrophic floods since 2004. Here is a sobering graphic from our local newspaper:

The following data is for the river gauge on the Pigeon River just upstream of downtown Canton. Ten feet is considered minor flood stage.

• 2024: 25.8 feet Hurricane Helene

• 2021: 19.6 feet Tropical Storm Fred

• 2004: 22.8 feet Hurricane Ivan

• 2004: 20.7 feet Hurricane Frances

• 1940: 20.8 feet unnamed storm

• 1928: 16.4 feet Haiti Hurricane

.1876: 18.3 feet unnamed storm

How did Craig and Laura fare personally with this storm? We are, as usual, just fine. We live in a well insured house on the top of a hill with underground utilities. Like everybody else we mostly lost cell service for several days and our cable Internet was out for a week. Unlike most other people we never lost our electricity or water. We weren’t completely unscathed; a large limb broke off our oak tree and fell on the house poking holes through the attic into a bedroom and a closet. We weren’t aware of it until we got up in the morning by which time the bedroom had suffered water damage. We were able to get the branches removed and the holes covered with tarps later that day. We have a contractor lined up to repair the damage in the coming days and we will eventually get a check from our insurance company. In the context of the difficulties facing our region, ours is a trivial problem, although it did not seem that way at the time as we watched water pouring into the house.

I, like everybody else, fear for the future of our mountain communities. Many people will now spend their lifetimes fearing the rain. If you wish to make a contribution to recovery efforts in Haywood County, please do so through United Way of Haywood County. They will ensure that your gift is used wisely.