Epic flooding in North Carolina's 'own Hurricane Katrina' [View all]
Source: USA Today
Published 8:37 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2024 | Updated 11:25 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2024
Helene’s swath of destruction has caused historic rainfall, flooding, power outages and 140-mile-an-hour winds across the Southeast. But it was North Carolina that bore the brunt of it Saturday with vast swaths of cities like Asheville underwater, residents trapped in their homes with no lights or food and few functioning roads for rescue workers to help them.
Helene, Gov. Roy Cooper declared, had become “one of the worst storms in modern history for parts of North Carolina.”
Zeb Smathers, the mayor of Canton, N.C., took to Facebook during a quick break from responding to what he described as "an unimaginable and horrific disaster." “I have limited time to post, but this is the first message I’ve been able to share following the apocalyptic flooding that hit us” and breakdowns in cellular communications that followed, Smathers wrote. “My heart is broken, not only for our town but for the entire region.”
More than 400 roads remained closed in the Tar Heel State, including “all roads in Western NC,” the North Carolina Department of Transportation said in a post on X. “Remember: As crews work to clear and inspect roads and bridges, please give them room.”
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/09/28/helene-north-carolina-historic-flooding-damage/75434466007/