Here’s why Asheville was caught ‘unprepared’ by Hurricane Helene

[mystery-ak]

Here’s why Asheville was caught ‘unprepared’ by Hurricane Helene
By
Callie Patteson
October 1, 2024 5:00 am
.

Residents of Asheville, North Carolina, began to see more aid and relief on Monday, days after the remnants of Hurricane Helene devastated the city that many have said was unprepared for the severe storm.

Parts of the city, which is located in the Western region of the state, were nearly totally isolated over the weekend after major flooding and heavy rains knocked out bridges, tore apart streets, and turned roadways into waterways.

As of Sunday, the state warned residents that all roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed. In Asheville, Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D-NC) office said only part of southbound Interstate 26 was to be considered the major road in and out of the city.

Devastating photos show homes in the area flooded and destroyed. The devastation from the storm has left at least 40 people dead and more than 1,000 people missing in Buncombe County alone.

The storm first made landfall Thursday, more than 400 miles away in Florida’s Big Bend region. Hurricane Helene is the strongest hurricane recorded to hit the area and swiftly weakened to a post-tropical cyclone as it made its way inland. In the disastrous aftermath of the storm, many have questioned why North Carolina was hit so hard.

more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3171704/asheville-unprepared-hurricane-helene-why/

[rustynail]

Interesting article.

[DefiantMassRINO]

1.) mountains wring water out of tropical systems
2.) Western North Carolina was hit by strongest part of the storm - the Northeast Quadrant
3.) as tropical systems weaken, they slow down and the rain shield expands
4.) there was a High pressure system over the Northeast that blocked northward and eastward movement (normally a weakening storm would get picked up by the jet stream and rapidly move into the Upper Midwest, Northeast, and Canada.)

Communities in Vermont are susceptible to similar flash flooding from tropical systems because of similar topography - steep mountains with towns in valleys.

What happened in Asheville is beyond modern memory and imagination, but, not unprecedented,  That's why its critical for authorities to maintain knowledge of past weather events.  1916 was 108 years ago.  There was nobody in the area with a living memory of the 1916 event.

When they rebuild Ashville, they should probably build a monument in prominent, central location as an unavoidable reminder for future generations to keep in their consciousness.

My father belonged to a yacht club (dive bar with boats) that had pictures of the 1938 Hurricane on the walls as a reminder of the destruction it caused.  Every storm has the possibility of suprising meteorologists, like the blizzard of 1978 (a passing snow flurry), and the No-Name Storm of 1991 (an extratropical cyclone).

Each generation makes the mistake of believing its unique and that they are the first to experience events whose memory has been lost to history and is not in the forefront of modern consciousness.  This is why memorializing significant events is import - to keep extraordinary events of the past relevant in the present.

[Sighlass]

Cause folks have not seen what 10-12" of rain can do to a canyon... I have around 1989 or so... Had just a random storm pop up and dump for about 7 hours on our canyon.... the results were amazing and scary... Whole trailers floating down the tributaries to the canyon, they canyon park was wiped out, even pealing the pavement off roads... All for just a storm about 20 miles big that just sat there. Kayak idiots came all over to canoe the flood waters ... Dad pulled a couple of them dead out the canyon.

[corbe]

   I've seen it a few times living yards away from the Guadalupe River in Texas.  I can just Imagin what it was like here before the COE built the Canyon Dam in 1960. 



This is the river going around the dam in 2012.