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yardwork

(64,708 posts)
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 03:33 PM Oct 5

How Helene became a Worst Case Scenario

Interesting, short article with graphics that show how mountain communities 600 miles from Florida were devastated:

These inland mountain communities are often safe from tropical storms. The cyclones that batter the U.S. southeastern coasts typically weaken as they come ashore. Many peter out before they reach a mountain town like Chimney Rock.

But this time, something different happened. Helene moved fast and carried its warm, moist air hundreds of miles inland into the Carolinas.

“It was a worst-case scenario for the type of tropical system that could deliver really extreme impacts that far inland,” said Gary Lackmann, professor of atmospheric sciences at N.C. State University.

Here’s what fueled Helene and caused so much devastation in the Appalachian Mountains.

Gift article; no paywall:

https://wapo.st/4exxjEC

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

yardwork

(64,708 posts)
5. Right, which is why people didn't anticipate this level of destruction.
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 04:07 PM
Oct 5

Western North Carolina often gets heavy rain as tropical storms move across the region, but nothing like this. This is truly unprecedented.

unc70

(6,330 posts)
12. 1916 was a lot like Helene
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 04:32 PM
Oct 5

Over 20" of rain Asheville and elsewhere. Horrible flooding and destruction.

Cha

(305,823 posts)
11. SMH... yeah that was the most
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 04:24 PM
Oct 5
Unbelievable! omg!

FYI.. my sister told me as of yesterday 52 people perished in Buncombe County from the Hurricane. Not "nothing" for their them and their Loved ones.

JanMichael

(25,300 posts)
14. Didn't think I needed a sarcasm thingy.
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 05:42 PM
Oct 5

But apparently on Democratic underground one has to.

The first two replies to this thread basically said that without saying it.

Hekate

(95,208 posts)
16. You absolutely need a sarcasm thingy
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 06:34 PM
Oct 5

We’ve had a lot of trolling this season, and sometimes it’s hard to tell

Marthe48

(19,297 posts)
4. The mid-Ohio valley was flooded by 2 hurricanes in 2004
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 04:03 PM
Oct 5

barely 2 weeks apart-Frances and Ivan. We had contractors here adding a bathroom in the basement. I remember being outside in 6" of rainwater, digging a trench to get the water away from the back of the house. We were out of the floodplain, but the rain was the most I've ever seen.

I have deep sympathy for people who are victims of weather.

Cha

(305,823 posts)
6. It is interesting.. TY, yardowk. Wondering how it could go so far Inland and
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 04:07 PM
Oct 5

Cause so much Detrriction and loss of Lives.

I'm reading everything I can on Hurricane Helene. My sister and her NC family live in Asheville.

They are Lucky.. they weathered the Storm and then a few days ago they found the one road out of NC to South Carolina. My sister had just had surgery before it Hit and was running out of much needed Meds.

They were able to escape and make it to New London, Connecticut where she has a Summer home. Took 2 days to get in touch with her Dr in Ashville so she could get her prescription filled there.

Mahalo for the Gift!

PufPuf23

(9,282 posts)
13. Experienced the 1964 Christmas Flood of Oregon and Northern California
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 04:58 PM
Oct 5

Our home was buried in river silt, a general store family had owned since 1938 destroyed and my father's gravel and gold operation gone as was 100 plus years of family history in the Klamath River town. I was 12 years old and spent Christmas marooned near the Humboldt-Mendocino border on a mission with father to bring grandmother from Eureka to the Bay Area. Everything changed and had a big impact on all our lives. It is hard for people that were not actually there in that time to visualize the devastation.

National guard helicopters brought people in or out. The highways alone took years to rebuild and all many bridges save for the bridge at Weitchpec, juncture of Trinty and Klamath Rivers, were gone. Entire mountain sides of dense old-growth timber slid into the valley bottoms.

Christmas flood of 1964

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_flood_of_1964

The Christmas flood of 1964 was a major flood in the United States' Pacific Northwest and some of Northern California between December 18, 1964, and January 7, 1965, spanning the Christmas holiday.[1]

Considered a 100-year flood,[2] it was the worst flood in recorded history on nearly every major stream and river in coastal Northern California and one of the worst to affect the Willamette River in Oregon. It also affected parts of southwest Washington, Idaho, and Nevada.[1][3]

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California Governor Pat Brown was quoted as saying that a flood of similar proportions could "happen only once in 1,000 years," and it was often referred to later as the Thousand Year Flood.[1] The flood killed 19 people, heavily damaged or completely devastated at least 10 towns, destroyed all or portions of more than 20 major highway and county bridges, carried away millions of board feet of lumber and logs from mill sites, devastated thousands of acres of agricultural land, killed 4,000 head of livestock, and caused $100 million in damage in Humboldt County, California, alone

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Starting on December 21, intense downpours across Northern California caused numerous streams to flood, many to record-breaking levels. California Governor Brown declared 34 counties in the region disaster areas.[1][7] Together, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Sonoma counties sustained more damage than the other 28 counties combined.[7] Twenty-six U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream gauges were destroyed.[7]

Note: Our home was at 400 foot elevation immediately surrounded by mountains to over 6000 feet elevation. There had been a recent snow event with snow in the valley when the warm rains began to fall.

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The Eel, Smith, Klamath, Trinity, Salmon, and Mad rivers, as well as other rivers and large streams, all went well beyond flood stage and peaked nearly simultaneously around December 21 and 22, breaking previous records (notably those set in the "hundred year" flood of 1955 in most cases).[1][7] Sixteen state highway bridges were destroyed in California's 1st congressional district, most of them on Highway 101, and another ten county bridges were destroyed in Humboldt County.[7] The flood destroyed 37 miles (60 km) of track with multiple stream and river crossings of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad through the Eel River canyon, the region's only major railroad.[12]

Many communities of Del Norte and Humboldt counties suffered extensive power outages and were left isolated or cut off from the rest of the state for a period, including the region's larger populated areas around Humboldt Bay, such as Eureka and Arcata, despite the fact that those cities were located on higher ground and not in the path of raging rivers. Riverside communities like Klamath, Orleans, Myers Flat, Weott, South Fork, Shively, Pepperwood, Stafford, and Ti-Bar were completely destroyed by flood waters; some of them were never rebuilt and none regained their former status.

Note: One of the destroyed towns is our home and near where I live in old age. There area was cut off for months until temporary wood and Bailey bridges and major road repair provided any access.

More at wiki.

Jack Valentino

(1,497 posts)
15. It is mind-boggling to me how this thing caused so much damage so far from the coast---
Sat Oct 5, 2024, 06:00 PM
Oct 5

Nothing quite like it in recent memory.

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