Major Hurricane Helene

[Jmoon]

7 hours ago, wncsnow said:

McDowell is a war zone. Trying to access my property but I can't even get there. 

Same in Rutherford county. Will take a long long time to recover. Helene is the benchmark now and unfortunately puts Hugo to shame around here. Prayers for everyone and prayers for you and your family.

[jburns]

Chimney Rock.   I was hoping this was fake but I don't think it is. If anyone knows for sure I will delete if faked.

[btownheel]

Chimney Rock.   I was hoping this was fake but I don't think it is. If anyone knows for sure I will delete if faked.

I watched the video it came from with commentary. Unfortunately, I think it’s real.


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[paweather5]

20 minutes ago, jburns said:

Chimney Rock.   I was hoping this was fake but I don't think it is. If anyone knows for sure I will delete if faked.

It’s real the video is posted in the hurricane forum. @Niborposted it.

[LovintheWhiteFluff]

21 minutes ago, jburns said:

Chimney Rock.   I was hoping this was fake but I don't think it is. If anyone knows for sure I will delete if faked.

The second picture is further up the road but it looks bad either way. 

[WolfStock1]

12 minutes ago, btownheel said:

I watched the video it came from with commentary. Unfortunately, I think it’s real.


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Not quite taken from the same spot, but close.   The bottom one is a little further down the road.

 

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/photos-lake-lure/R22VATGCEJHL7KZEMOKB3KBUPU/

Looks like much of the town was wiped out.   Not surprising since it is (or was) all right on the river.

[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.

[jburns]

10 minutes ago, calculus1 said:

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'm glad everyone is safe. Some rough days ahead but things can be replaced. 

[wncsnow]

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/pqCRXodusdmdTtxf/?mibextid=oFDknk

Most of the shops in Marion close to the river are underwater. This isn't far from my house. Still no word on the damage. 

[kvegas-wx]

20 minutes ago, calculus1 said:

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.

Thank God man!  I had a niece and her boyfriend missing around Burnsville today but they finally showed up at their mom's house.  Roads blocked and no cell service.  I fear the untold death toll here, and in eastern TN, and SC and GA.  So many folks I'm sure decided to ride this out.  This story is just beginning.

[mercurydime]

18 minutes ago, wncsnow said:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/pqCRXodusdmdTtxf/?mibextid=oFDknk

Most of the shops in Marion close to the river are underwater. This isn't far from my house. Still no word on the damage. 

Thinking about you, man.  Hope you get everything squared away. 

[KChuck]

10 hours ago, buckeyefan1 said:

I can't get out due to the tree on the power line, but took a walk around and it's insane how much damage and flooding there is. Incredible  

Daughter left her apartment off of Wade Hampton Blvd to walk the area with a friend. She said she expected it to be bad but it was really bad with trees down all over the place.

I feel for all affected. I was working McNasty's (McDonald's back in the day) in 1972 when Agnes went thru NE Pa three times (it looped) following heavy thunderstorms in the Catskills the week before. We went driving around the next day taking pictures and were shocked at the flooding. For anyone who has traveled I81 over the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg, Pa, consider the width of the flood plain at that spot and how high the I81 bridge is above the river. Susquehanna flooding was so bad that the bridge was under water. I'm not even going to mention the conditions that the flooding left the houses in. Ground was so saturated that the air-tight casket vaults were popping up out of the ground, some going down the river. Impossible to imagine but I recall the pictures on the local TV. I was living in Scranton, Pa at the time. We were making hamburgers as fast as we could, not even wrapping them, placing them in grocery bags donated by local groceries, and sending them by truck to the workers feverishly filling and placing sandbags to try to save Wilkes-Barre. They failed and water was past the second floor downtown. Awful!

[WolfStock1]

I-26 bridge at Erwin TN washed out.

https://www.facebook.com/100064596347703/photos/936159315213938/?paipv=0&eav=AfakNstgGMfkESw_gDo-KpclLIIT-PwUJIRDV11V4L26hwG7lADMReKDUDmVJiitZMA&_rdr

[eyewall]

The Rocky Mount tornado associated with Helene was EF-3:

[nchighcountrywx]

[marsman]

4 hours ago, nchighcountrywx said:

Thank you for posting. The Mt. Mitchell data is amazing. Was watching their website till it went down early Friday.

[dwagner88]

I’m a little surprised Clemson was able to host this game. 

[nchighcountrywx]

1 hour ago, marsman said:

Thank you for posting. The Mt. Mitchell data is amazing. Was watching their website till it went down early Friday.

I have an excel spreadsheet of the minute by minute readings if you need it 

[nchighcountrywx]

[WxWatcher007]

I haven’t had a chance to post here until now but I took the time this evening to read every post. I cannot begin to express how sorry I am for your region being devastated like this. I truly hope and pray that resources arrive swiftly and that the recovery can start as soon as possible. 

To @wncsnow and @calculus1 especially, you and your families are in my thoughts and prayers. 

Hopefully this is helpful but for folks that have intermittent signals and need to reach family, if you have an iPhone that’s been updated recently there’s a feature to text by satellite. All you need to do is go outside and the phone will walk you through it. I used it in Perry literally on the backside of the eye when services were down and it worked well. 

[nchighcountrywx]

 

[calculus1]

17 minutes ago, WxWatcher007 said:

I haven’t had a chance to post here until now but I took the time this evening to read every post. I cannot begin to express how sorry I am for your region being devastated like this. I truly hope and pray that resources arrive swiftly and that the recovery can start as soon as possible. 

To @wncsnow and @calculus1 especially, you and your families are in my thoughts and prayers. 

Hopefully this is helpful but for folks that have intermittent signals and need to reach family, if you have an iPhone that’s been updated recently there’s a feature to text by satellite. All you need to do is go outside and the phone will walk you through it. I used it in Perry literally on the backside of the eye when services were down and it worked well. 

Thank you so much for your kind words and the tip about the iPhone, @WxWatcher007. And, many thanks to all the others who have expressed concern and then thankfulness upon hearing of their safety.

My daughter is currently stranded at Western Carolina University. We know she is safe, but we lost contact with her yesterday afternoon. Then, we got an unexpected land-line call from WCU late this afternoon. It was her! The college had set up ten land-line phones for students to call their families. She waited in line for an hour to get her 5 minutes on the phone with us. It was good to hear her voice and to tell her that her uncle, aunt, and cousins were all safe. (We didn’t know that when we last had contact with her yesterday.) Later this evening, it appears they got WiFi internet access restored, because she can now text via WiFi with us.

Unfortunately, despite her wishes, she’s going to be stuck in Cullowhee for several days, I believe. There’s just no way to get out at this point with the road conditions the way they are right now. There are no options, no matter which direction of the compass rose that you might try to go. This hurts my heart, and very much frustrates her, but I know she’s being taken well care of there. The university staff are amazing and are doing their absolute best in a difficult situation.

Many thanks to all the line, road, and cell tower workers for all they are doing to restore access. Many thanks to all the first responders who have and are risking their lives to save others. This event is truly unprecedented in our region.

[USCG RS]

I have been an emergency manager, first responder, medic, rescuer, risk manager or some combination of these for over 17 years. I have been through many deployments, storms, calls, etc. I have never witnessed this type of widespread devastation and catastrophe stateside. Ever. This includes living in NY though Sandy. It's sobering. 

That's not to say there have not been comparable disasters in United States history. Likewise, we will all get through this, of this I have no doubt. However, I say it again, it is truly sobering what is/has taken place across the Southeast. 

[strongwxnc]

Just getting back online now. Mby faired well with only trees down in the pasture.roads are still terrible as they are around most WNc area. I’m really focused on the lake lure area. Got two bothers and a nephew in the area. I live about 30 mins from the lake.


Hope all who can read this are well and dry.


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[wncsnow]

10 people confirmed dead in Buncombe County alone and 1,000 missing. I have heard some sad stories in other counties too. We absolutely cannot take another heavy rain event from a tropical system.  

[GaWx]

 Storm total here including indirect in advance: ~5.25” over ~48 hour period. Just under half the 11” from Debby.

 No damage/trees down here but there are a good number of trees down in the Savannah area, some on houses. Just the typical debris/only a couple of larger branches in yard. Still no power (out for 60 hrs). ~70% were w/o power at highest but ~1/3 of those have it back. So, ~half still have no power. Not difficult for me to handle power outage when considering comparison to much worse hit areas in/near FL Big Bend, Valdosta, Alma, Augusta, SC upstate, W NC, E TN, W VA, and any other areas hit hard. Prayers for those especially in the hard hit areas. And hopefully that’s it for hard hits not only this year but for years to come in the SE and all over.

 

[marsman]

 

[andyhb]

Have seen some EMA chatter about this being comparable to Katrina's impact in LA/MS for E TN and W NC in terms of the extent of the destruction and infrastructure disruption. Certainly comparable to Agnes and Camille at the very least in terms of inland impacts.

[wncsnow]

4 hours ago, wncsnow said:

10 people confirmed dead in Buncombe County alone and 1,000 missing. I have heard some sad stories in other counties too. We absolutely cannot take another heavy rain event from a tropical system.  

30 now confirmed dead in Buncombe alone. 

[flair_2000]

4 hours ago, wncsnow said:

10 people confirmed dead in Buncombe County alone and 1,000 missing. I have heard some sad stories in other counties too. We absolutely cannot take another heavy rain event from a tropical system.  

As of 4:41 pm, death toll is at 30 in Buncombe County.  Still 1,000 unaccounted for.  I would expect the number of unaccounted to come down some once communications are reestablished and roads reopen.  Still, absolutely gut-wrenching.