calculus1

My family is safe. We praise God for that tonight. They made it to our house in Hickory from Old Fort a couple of hours ago. Arrived covered in mud with just a few things in their cars. The town’s police chief actually used a front-end loader to move three feet of mud off the road, enough for them to drive out, once the water had receded. Their house is still there, just 30 feet off their foundation and broken in half. Water reached almost to the ceiling. Strange how certain things inside on walls and on high shelves actually remained in place, with no damage. Of course, anything lower is ruined. We can replace things. I’m thankful that we still have their lives with us. I know others will not be so fortunate when the final chapters of Helene’s story are known.

I-40 at the state line: .

Still now word from our family in Old Fort since EMS told us they were okay. Can’t get to them. Can’t call them. Feels so helpless. .

They were on Orchard St. Near Mills Creek, which overflowed. Waters are receding, but it will be a while before they can get out. .

Can you link the map?

I-40 is closed in many locations from Hickory to the TN state line. It’s impassible right now.

My brother and sister in law lost their home in Old Fort. Water up to the roof. They lost one car, too. They are on hill away from water, but it seems to be receding now.

My in-laws in Black Mountain, as of an hour ago, had received over 10.5 inches of rainfall since midnight. They have since had to evacuate to Owen HS. The Asheville reservoir dam on the North Fork River is apparently very stressed. If it were to break, they would all be inundated…

Here you go. .

French Broad River in Fletcher now above record levels

We should have a lot more posts on here. I think a lot of our members are no longer able to post…

This hurricane is moving so quickly. The rain shield may be out of here in just another couple of hours, based off an eyeball analysis of radar loops.

Power outages map .

Helene is WAY east of NHC forecast track. The global models were right. Is she going to turn NW? .

Oh, and as we are approaching 11 PM, I have recorded 5.12 inches since midnight IMBY. With 1 inch yesterday, that puts me above 6 inches storm total.

My family members are reporting that Buncombe County emergency text messaging is telling people to evacuate if they live in and around the French Broad, the Swannanoa, or any of their tributaries. I think they are particularly worried about the Fletcher and Biltmore Village areas, but this will likely be much more expansive by tomorrow morning.

Others have referenced this. Here’s the graphical forecast. .

Just got home. Closed the college early. 3.02 inches since midnight. 4.02 inches storm total counting yesterday’s rainfall.

More Cocorahs totals coming in… .

Wow. Just. Wow. .

Yep. Found an Old Fort number, as the obs keep rolling in. 6.21 inches. Yikes. What’s @Rainforrest up to now? .

Corcoran observations coming in at 7 AM… .

Got another inch since midnight. Light rain now. Anybody got a rain gauge near Old Fort? Really curious on their totals. It trained on them all night. .

Can you post the link?

I have family in Old Fort that live across the street from the Catawba River. I also have family in Black Mountain, but not near any streams or rivers. Really worried about this one for both of them. I think they both see upwards of a foot of rainfall out of this. The point-and-click NWS forecasts are pretty insane for both locations. I’ve never seen the language for rain totals that it is using for Black Mountain tomorrow night: “New precipitation amounts in excess of 4 inches possible.” The other time frames are also huge. Old Fort isn’t much different. I keep sending my family updates, as I have them, since I am much more into following weather events than any of them. I appreciate all the reports and posting that ya’ll provide on here.