Dude, donating money is actually better. Although you point out "middle men", anything you donate has to be collected, collated, and transported. If money is available, charities can buy and match donations from companies - like Walmart for example, that has distribution centers and can easily be loaded and trucked in. Direct food, water, and clothing donations are really only beneficial if you are in the local area where it can be used immediately.
I would have swapped your first and last sentence. Direct physical donations are absolutely best for the people affected at the moment. Obviously, if you don't live close enough, then that doesn't make sense as you're not going to ship gallons of water and such. There are literally hundreds of places throughout NC all the way to the coast which are collecting physical donations and sending trucks and trailers up to the region. This is an immediate relief.
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Agree 100%. Geography guy is good at geography, but thank god he isn't in charge of aid. Send money not stuff.
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99.999% of Americans are not going to appalachia soon. Those who are know what's going on and will bring whatever supplies they can carry. But you don't want America flooding appalachia with stuff right now. it will create more work than it's worth. 30k cans of cream of mushroom soup and 400 goodwills worth of clothes from the 70's anyone? Send Money!
Do what geography dude said. These Republican Governors will find friends to give money to. May be Trump will show up with some kitchen wipe rolls to throw out. Maybe these people will wake up to who helps people and who helps themselves in time for November.
Meteorologist here. As you described, the topography played a major role. The process of moisture rising due to terrain is known as mechanical forcing (or orographic lift), further enhancing rainfall as moisture condensed in higher altitudes. This isn't the entire story though. Leading up to Helene moving through the mountains, a Predecessor Rainfall Event (PRE) was taking place. In some places, over a foot of rain fell before Helene even made landfall. The PRE was due to the synoptic (large scale meteorology) setup of the eastern US. A deep trough in the Ohio Valley spawned a relatively strong localized jet streak (strong high level winds) along the Appalachian mountains, with western North Carolina falling into what is known as the "right entrance region", a region that is favorable for rising motion and hence storm development. This low pressure system stalled and closed off as Helene's low pressure entered the region and began curving west to ultimately combine into the existing system. All of these factors (synoptic forcing, mechanical forcing, stalled boundary and stalled closed off low, and unprecedented moisture from the Gulf of Mexico) lead to the record rainfall. On top of that, the mountains acted as large funnels to force the rain down into the valleys which is ultimately where most of the population and infrastructure is located.
Totally right. I live near Asheville, around a day before Helene actually felt more like a record rainstorm. I had a bad feeling that night when our crawl space was already flooded...
Literally the perfect storm of the topography and the weather patterns caused the storm to stall out and dump an obscene amount of rain into the eastern Smokies
I've seen mechanical forcing at work while I was doing field geologic research in southern Nevada and south-western Utah (Basin-and-Range region, lots of low-lying basins with elevated mountain ranges) this past late summer. While I am a layman to meteorology, it was impressive to see how heat convection within the basins contributed to almost daily thunderstorms and heavy precipitation-- one day I lost power where I was staying at due to heavy winds and precipitation. Another day, a couple wildfires were started from lightning strikes in the area.
WRt topography, Am I correct in believing this? The mountains punched most of the stuffings out of Helene so by the time she got to Indiana, there wasn't much left of her. We received some wind & rain, but nothing torrential. Most Wx coming into the Ohio Valley moves West to East but there's nothing much to drag the storms down by the time they arrive. Having a system come in from the South East is unusual here now. When I lived in the NC Piedmont, Very severe storms moving West to East (sometimes tornadic) seemed to lose lots of intensity after crossing The Smokies. The storms weren't as bad by the time they arrived. So I'm thanking the Appalachian mountains for saving us again! This time in INDIANA, not NC. it that gratitude unfounded? I know a lot of people are really struggling now in NC including some of my friends who will rue Helene for the rest of their days.
Im a longtime subscriber who lives in WNC. This is my first day on the internet since the storm hit, i was trapped in the woods for days and many neighbors lost their homes and cars. Thank you for making this, it helped me understand what happened to my region a little bit better. The last few days have been every bit as horrific here as the news is portraying.
I’m so glad you’re safe. We are on the eastern edge of the devastation. I drove some gear up to friends yesterday and it’s just heartbreaking how much is absolutely gone.
@@JeffreyB1983 agreed. One woman got the warning text to go to high ground a week after it happened so they lost cellphone service before that warning.
I’m a Brevard NC resident, the back roads are mostly ruined. We are getting resources now 10/1 but it’s been rough finding food, gas etc…. We appreciate all the help and love we’re receiving! Thanks to all
I was searching for news on the real scope of what is happening with this hurricane and The Geography King puts this video out coving all the bases. THANK YOU KYLE. Prayers for all those who were affected and suffered from this hurricane. 🙏🙏
One day when I was in Boone, NC we saw a creek that was rising after a recent rainfall. We saw it rise and then rise quickly. We ran to get away from it. We were from the flatter lands down from the mountains. I later talked to people from the mountains. They were taught as children to stay away from rising creeks. It occurred to me that all the rain hits the mountain sides and flows into the valleys where the cities are. That's why the water level rises so quickly in the mountains.
@@marknc9616 Sounds like a modified version of why we stay away from dry washes and rivers in the desert when it's raining elsewhere. Next thing you know there might be a wall of water headed towards you. Can't even imagine if we got hit by something like that, it would overtop everything, even maybe the flood protection stuff the Army Corp of Engineers made like 50 years ago. But at least it would help. Not much you can do when it floods your whole town, though, besides be prepared in advance with food and water. I saw one pic where a Wendys was flooded all the way up to the top. That's Katrina level stuff, just much higher elevation. Hopefully it flows down and we can get these people the help they need. I've already heard that supplies are being dropped into places they can't access by road.
Thank you for providing PRACTICAL, FACTUAL and IMPARTIAL information on the "why" of the situation in that part of the country. THIS was the information I was looking for.
Greene County Tn here, and it's a mess. We have lost nearly all our bridges in the county, and some parts of the county are landlocked because of that. We have no water in Greene County at all. Some of us have no power or internet, and clean-up is an all-day thing. Terrible situation for about 6 states. Prayers to everyone involved.
Thanks for this overview. Respectfully, I must disagree with your suggestion that people not donate money. I work in disaster relief, and that is actually horrible advice...cash can be used anywhere, for anything, and is easily transferred and easily matched by big corporations. Food and water tend to pile up where they aren't needed, and it's hard to transport them to the places they are. Unwanted clothes actually become a huge garbage problem-don't donate clothes unless specifically asked to. Much better to send cash and then the people who need help can decide how to use it best. If you refuse to send cash, diapers and women's sanitary supplies are a decent second choice, as they are expensive, always needed, and relatively lightweight. Thanks for shedding light on this area...Appalachia is so often overlooked.
I would love to hear suggestions for donating $$ to reputable organizations. I have heard many say don't give to the American Red Cross - due to their high overhead.
@@DWNY358 my advice would be to research specific local relief organizations first, and see if you can arrange to donate to them. They tend to know who needs what help and how much better than huge relief organizations. That being said, Catholic Charities is considered a good choice as far as big orgs go, as is the YMCA. (I work for the government, just FYI, so I'm not promoting my own company or anything. These are my suggestions based on my personal experience and also charity watch type organizations. (But not charity watch itself anymore, they changed how the grade charities and not for the better.)
I also just wanted to add--yes, the Red Cross/Crescent has huge overhead and I wouldn't suggest them as a first choice to donate to for that reason. But I do have to say--in some situations, they are the best choice simply because of the shear access they have around the world. There are many places that the Red Cross/Crescent is allowed into that no one else is. They DO still help, so in many instances, they are the best choice. Research is key for each new incident. P.S. I had a first comment but it keeps disappearing. Go for local organizations first and try to donate directly to them. Catholic Charities and the YMCA are highly ranked as far as bigger organizations go.
@@DWNY358it would appear my first reply got deleted for some reason. Basically, try to find local organizations in the affected area who are helping and see if you can directly donate to them. They tend to know the scene better and use resources more efficiently. As far as big orgs go, Catholic Charities is considered one of the better/more honest ones, as is the YMCA. There are websites that actually rank charities based on how much direct help they give and those two are always highly rated.
@@DWNY358 I would suggest Catholic Charities, Samaritan's Purse, Presbyterian Disaster Relief and or the Salvation Army. There are no exectives getting anything from your donation. I too believe giving fungible dollars is more useful to be able to fill voids yet to come.
You're the best, Kyle. I think I speak for many others as well when I say that I have an immense amount of respect for you and what you do. As an educator, you are just phenomenal at sharing information, be it a natural disaster or fascinating topic. Thank you for being informative not only with entertaining subjects, but also when that information is crucial to those experiencing something as unfortunate as this.
There was also 3 days of hellacious rain before the hurricane ever moved in. From Wednesday to Friday, 20-30 inches of rain fell across that region. It’s absolutely unreal.
A Predecessor Rain Event, per the academic meteorological voices I'm connected to. They've been identified and analyzed for nearly 20 years at this point, but are not part of the broader vernacular.
Thanks for making this video. I’ve spent most of my life near this region (KY,GA) and visiting this region. I think many people don’t understand how remote and rugged this part of the country is.
My brother is an IT and Communications director in Madison County, TN. He was part of a team dispatched to Unicoi County, TN. He will run a communications truck but unfortunately they also brought 2 morgue trailers. Incredibly bad situation.
In JC right now at ETSU. We are devastated but trying our best. Man it's crazy because I took I26 to Asheville on Labor Day! Man I really hope we get out of this on a brighter side.
Really? Did Brush Creek flood? I asked a cousin in JC if she was fine but she seemed more worried about Erwin... I don't know what part of town she lives in but I got two more that live near Boone Lake in the north part of town. I should check on them.
@@Steve-318 Yes, Louisiana's geography is built to handle hurricanes. Florida's geography is built to handle hurricanes (historically) as well (doesn't do so good with 20 million people there).
Black mountain NC dam failed, which flooded Newport tn. In Unicoi county Tn, the Nolichuckey dam had more water flowing over it than Niagara Falls, and it's not even a third as wide.
Appalachia, the mountains are rugged so people live in the valleys, the roads follow streams through the valleys. And there are so many valleys and hollers, each one flooded and each one is cut off. The scope of that can be difficult to wrap one's mind around, this is a large region affected.
And those that have built on the hillsides are subject to landslides. And, unlike coastal regions, we are heavily wooded, and shallow rooted (and/or unhealthy) trees in full canopy were uprooted and dropped on people’s houses.
The mountains usually protect us from bad weather, until the weather gets really bad. Then the terrain makes it worse. When there's floods, then these narrow hollers become like riverbeds directing the water right to us. Same with tornados. Once twisters get in a holler, the hills effectively steer them right along a preset path.
I took Introduction to Forestry in college as an elective. This accounting major still remembers the following. Orographic lift and the dendritic drainage is a nightmare for the Appalachians.
Damaged from Florida to Ohio. Eastern TN and Western NC was hit the hardest but man this is just the beginning of hurricanes can keep its strength all the way to Lake Ohio. Portsmouth Ohio was flooded and Columbus, Ohio had rain for days and some flooding. Like, this is crazy that not even the mountains or being in land can save you.
I have a lot of friends who are stuck at App state and WCU areas, it's crazy how bad it got in these areas and how no one was prepared for it. Unsafe water supply, can't use credit or debit cards in some places - only cash, limited cell service and internet, airlifting food and water, running low on gas, destroyed infrastructure, and many communities completely destroyed and wiped off the map. Thank you for talking about this 🙏
I didn't even think about the people camping and hiking! The first thing I did think of was if you had stocked up and your house is flooded or washed away, what then? This is awful and I do believe the death toll will never be complete but will be high. I live down on the NC coast and I'm used to hurricanes. This is madness.
I live in Hickory NC, and luckily damage was minor here. It’s heartbreaking that my neighbors are suffering. The Hickory airport is actually sending helicopters to the areas hardest hit with supplies and aiding in evacuations. The Village of Chimney Rock has been mostly wiped off the map. Hoping these people are not soon forgotten. It’s going to be a long difficult road ahead.
@@malaquiasalfaro81 Yeah, a lot of areas still have power outages. The cell phone coverage has also been very spotty since the storm. Hope you make contact with your friends soon!
Kyle, my folks are in WNC. I grew up there, and it's home to me. Thank you for talking about this. No one is talking about us. Everything I know from home is gone.
I can't imagine what the smaller towns are going through. It's like when Katrina came through all you heard about was new Orleans but the ENTIRE Mississippi coast did not exist. All you see is Ashville in the news and seeing your map makes me understand why it's so bad. There aren't any roads
I live about 20 miles west of Knoxville TN and we just took an SUV full of bottled water, first aid supplies, diapers and pet food to the local democrat headquarters who are taking a truck trailer load of these items to the Erwin TN rescue center. If you are too far away to provide goods please donate to the response efforts in North Carolina and upper East Tennessee. It’s unbelievable how many lives this has changed so fast.
We're in east TN about a half hour from much of the flooding. One factor not mentioned anywhere is we had 3 days of solid rain before the hurricane hit. The waterways were already getting pushed to the limits and the hurricane pushed it over the edge. If we didn't get all that rain beforehand, my assumption is most of the dams would've had no problem controlling the hurricane rain.
I am a hydro geologist in East Tennessee. Infiltration of precipitation is dependent on antecedent conditions. Runoff becomes sheet flow when saturation occurs. Typical for this area, an inch of rain crosses the threshold. You hit the nail on the head. Those days of rain broke the drought and set the antecedent conditions for flooding.
I live in Cherokee, NC on the Qualla Boundary. I am an enrolled member of the EBCI. There is only one community that doesn't have power or cell coverage right now. The rest of us never lost the electricity but for the first 3 days after the initial hit of the main storm, we didn't have cell coverage. But as of yesterday evening, we regained phone service. We are very lucky, but please pray for the rest of our neighbors here in WNC and the whole southeast. It's a very sad and tragic time for some of us!!! But, we are a strong people here in the south and will make it out of this!!! Thank you for all the love and support. GOD BLESS...
Kyle, thank you for spotlighting this area and terrible event. Dams have collapsed, bridges and highways washed away and I-40 will be closed for some time. This is an Atlantic-Pacific Interstate. I heard the northern route of I-26 from Asheville to Tennessee's Tri-Cities is washed away in two different areas. Over 100 people are missing in Tennessee alone and several of these mountains are 5000 to 6000 feet + high. Sadly some people have seen caskets popping up out of cemeteries and there is nothing the people can do until the water goes away (this sounds like something in Louisiana) People need food and water and electricity is hard to find. The death toll is tremendous and South Carolina had over a million families without power yesterday. For the most part, no electricity, no roads, no internet, no cell phones, no drinking water and no ATM services in this entire region. PLEASE DONATE WATER AND FOOD if anyone in your area is collecting donations. 100 miles west on the Northern Plateau we had 7" of rain but very little damage. The Concentration is the E TN, W NC, SC upstate and NE GA. areas. Thanks Kyle.
Money donations are best. In NC, the governor is asking people to direct donations through North Carolina Hurricane Relief Fund. Remember that SUPPLIES cannot get to the people who are cut off. People are using pack animals to carry in things needed to basically survive off the land. We need money to purchase satellite radios and Starlinks, and other direct communications devices. It’s frustrating that emergency response workers just a mile away from each other, have to depend on literally hand delivered paper notes or word of mouth, to coordinate with each other.
For those who don't know, the Appalachians there are composed of soft, decomposing sandstone with just a thin layer of topsoil. They can take a couple inches of rain an hour for an hour and a half or so; beyond that, things start moving downhill.
There is not much of sandstone in this region. Sandstone is more common further west in Tennessee and further north in WV. Most mountains in North Carolina are composed of granite (mostly Nantahala and Blue Ridge Escarpment) and various gneisses and schists (often containing quartz or mica). You are right, though, about many parts having thin soil (especially on steep slopes and peaks). However, the main cause of mudslides, erosion, washouts, etc is the pure volume of water. As mentioned, this region is the second rainiest region of contiguous US (it is actually considered a rainforest).
I was on vacation in Asheville right before the storm hit. I left just 3 days before they got completely flooded. So many of the places I visited got severely damaged right after I left.
A similar event occurred in August, 1969 in Nelson County, Virginia. Hurricane Camille which had been downgraded suddenly dumped about 27 inches of rain in 3 to 5 hours at night. 114 people died and 33 remain missing. The bodies of a family of four were found along a creek and it was surmised that they had been hiking on the Appalachian Trail and camping overnight beside the creek. They had no identification on them. From the few details that were found it was surmised that they were from Europe. Strangely, they were never reported missing anywhere and they remain unidentified.
Thanks for highlighting this problem, Kyle it's really bad hearing from my friends in Weaverville and Black Mountain (whom I haven't heard from yet). I feel OK sending my money to The Y'all Squad based in Pikeville, KY. They're a 501c(3) that does Weather Disaster Relief. Check them out on the internet and vet them for yourself. I've already contributed. I'm not affiliated with the Yall Squad, Ryan Hall's just my favorite UA-cam Weatherman / Meteorologist.
You spoke of the French Broad carrying the water through Asheville. The Nolichucky was the river that caused the flood damage in Erwin. Across the mountain, it was the Doe that caused the flooding in Roan Mountain and Elizabethton. The Nolichucky washed away a landmark bridge in Erwin that was the route of the Appalachian Trail.
French broad also got the flood water from the NC dam failure that caused the Pigeon River to flood Newport. Both French Broad and Nolichucky drain into the same resevior at Douglas Lake. The Douglas Dam is the only thing holding all that water from flooding downtown Knoxville.
I'm so glad you shared your perspective, thank you!! Disaster zones are the perfect place to use drones for searches and deliveries of small payloads of water and medicine. There is a big role for drones in our future disaster response efforts.
Thanks for making this video. I have spent a lot of time in Franklin, NC. It rarely the storm that gets you, but the aftermath. I have faith the folks stranded will take care of each other and work together.
This is NOT what happened. I am in Haywood County. We were getting rain for a full TWO DAYS before Helene even arrived. A cold front moved in Tuesday night, and it started raining, non-stop. When Helene was approaching Florida on Thursday night, the upper level outflow from Helene started to feed more moisture into the stalled front. We already had over 10-15" of rain by that time. When Helene finally arrived Friday morning, we were already starting to flood in places. Helene blew through in less than 24 hours and was gone by Saturday morning. The total from the original rain from the storm front AND Helene was 20" to 30" in 72 hours. This would have happened ANYWHERE that got 30" of rain in 72 hours.
Yes, the YT channel Convective Chronicles has been sharing the meteorological academic discussion on Predecessor Rain Events, which occur ahead of a tropical/post-tropical cyclone when it changes direction after landfall.
@@RizzenMurray the way you word it, you make it sound like the hurricane CAUSED the rain event. The rain we were getting was totally independent of Helene, and would've happened anyway. I will watch their video and see what they said.
The rain storm prior to the hurricane saturated the ground, but the speed of the storm slowed. Helene was there "less than 24 hours", but most hurricanes blow by in MUCH less time than that. It was slowed due to topography. The orographic uplift of the lower atmosphere created a larger amount of precipitation on the eastern side of the mountains, and significantly less on the western side. Without the Appalachians, Knoxville would've gotten it nearly as badly as Asheville, yet it was just a "normal" heavy rain event there. The predecessor event without Helene causes limited flooding in only the lowest lying areas. Helene without the predecessor causes significantly more flooding, albeit not as catastrophic without the predecessor, but don't blame the predecessor for being more responsible than the hurricane for the catastrophe.
@@GeographyKing Helene, without the PRE, causes about the same amount of flooding, not significantly more. The PRE, alone, was going to be 10-12". Helene, alone, would've been 10-12". Less than 24 hours was actually 12-18 hours.
I moved from Hendersonville, NC to Seattle area and I was surprised to find out that Hendersonville gets about 13 more inches per year than Seattle. Seattle is just overcast and has more rainy days. Hendersonville has 60 more days of sunshine yearly. Two more months of sun! We don’t really have storms here, the rain is light and the drops are small. It does seem to be changing here to be more like the south. It is already pretty similar. Same crops grow here.
Seattle here as well. That said, the summers here are usually pretty dry (I assume you've noticed how the grass turns yellow like in California); the vast majority of our precipitation falls during the winter, which seems to be the usual pattern over the whole West Coast. Meanwhile from what I've heard the East Coast doesn't really have a dry season, and slightly more precipitation comes during the summer.
Hey, GK. It's definitely bad up there so thanks for this video. I got caught up there on the border, Elk Park, NC side. Took awhile to get roads open, supplies, etc. but a MAJOR hurdle was no cell signal anywhere from Boone, NC past the TN border a ways. The lack of communication has made the distribution of resources and help so much more difficult because we're so used to being connected these days.
These kinds of floods used to be more common in Appalachia, but then we built the flood-control dams and lakes. Sadly, this storm was just too much for the these flood control systems in place, so we again have the kind of damage not seen in the mountains in the last two or three generations.
Nice to hear you're in Chattanooga! NW GA here, Chattanooga is a 45 min drive for me. My husband and I have awesome memories of driving in those gorgeous mountains! Prayers for our countrymen .
As someone from the emergency management field, unless your close enough to transport the supplies, money is needed. If your close enough to transport, donate ONLY what they're asking for. No clothes or junk they dont have space for. Get with a local organization or contact your local VOAD to see where to donate food, water and household supplies.
Here in Monroe County WV, we've had over 13" of water in the last week. Not complaining, as we've been in full drought condition since July. Our spring failed in August and we were without running water since then, but it's now come back with a vengeance.
I'm glad to see people talking about this. The disaster is much larger and far reaching than most people realize, and it will be years before some areas are recovered, if they recover. I'm south of Charlotte, NC where we were lucky, but everyone west of us is in really bad shape.
I’m just so worried about the cut off communities. In some places, their main road - and all their main stores - is just gone. There’s lots of tourists and retired urban transplants who aren’t prepared for an extended survival situation. :/
This reminds me a lot of what happened in Colorado in 2013. Unprecedented rain poured down on the foothills, squeezing the moisture out like a sponge as it passed over the mountain peaks. I live in a mountain community in CO where we were cut off by destroyed roads for several days after that storm. It took years to repair all of the roads with some remaining closed permanently. My thoughts and prayers are with those in Appalachia!
I really loved this and i would love to see more videos like this, tying geography into the scope of some of these natural disasters and maybe some refreshers on how flood zones are established
Thank you so much for this information. Just couldn't understand what was going on and you explained it so clearly. Prayers for all who are suffering and may relief come very soon.
For people anywhere near the region, find a reliable group that is directly helping and donate supplies to them. We have too many people already in the area to support with what supplies we have and the best help is people just bringing gear and supplies in, not hands or money
Orographic uplift is why the West is so dependent upon mountain snowpack. Pacific storms hit the Cascades and Sierras and Gulf storms hit the Rockies, and the main source of water flows down to the cities and farmlands via the rivers.
Thanks for posting this Kyle. I’m really worried about stranded people in remote places. We were just in those mountains the weekend before the storm. I’m afraid many might not be able to leave what’s left of their property.
I appreciate getting a geographer's perspective on this disaster! Especially one that lives nearby and knows the area. I live in northwest Georgia, myself, and we really got off light with this storm. It was heading right at us and then shifted course. Good for us, not... quite as much for the victims in the Appalachian states. I've been up in that area a few times, and the terrain is definitely very rugged. I agree that recovery is going to be a long, hard, miserable slog.
Thank you for the explanation, my son was bracing for the worst in Rocky Face(GA) but it went around him and you. It went north and west to Nashville and Kentucky
Thank you for this video. I live in Chattanooga like you, but I go fishing all in the areas you’ve mentioned. So much disaster to such a good group of people.
We had a similar type of issue in the mountains west of las vegas. The "hurricane" passed over the city and was just a little rain and then hit the mountains and dropped like 10 years of rainfall in10 hours.
It's all of WNC and some of the foothills. They had their backs against the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the strom hit them like train. All the wonderful little towns and cities are devastated. From Burke Co NC to Cocke Co TN. That whole stretch of the Interstate 40 corridor. Beautiful country 😢
Went to Western Carolina University and Asheville has been the go-to weekend spot for me all my life. This is truly hard to wrap my head around and I can’t believe this actually happened.
Always love your videos. You might consider a soft light for segments like that last portion of the video. It was very dark and hard to see many of the things you were pointing out and explaining on the map. That aside, your content is always excellent work! Thank you for the timely and topical video.
Reminds me of images of Vermont and upper New England from last year's floods. Just small pockets of population centers in between big mountainous ridges and valleys. Hope everyone is safe.
Was just in Asheville after Labor Day for my brother in law's wedding and it is terrifying to see the devastation. Wedding venue was demolished as it was right next to a major river. His wife's family lives there and they are even getting food airlifted to their street by whatever local/national authorities. Just awful.
Pray for all of us small town folks cut off from water and electricity and food and still having to cut our way out. I’m in middle GA here and we got hit hard it was a borderline cat 3 here based on our towns wind meter. We got rocked hard but it looks like nothing compared to NC. If anyone can help (especially NC) in any way it would be much appreciated
I have to imagine that the regularly large amount of rain means that the soils were already quite saturated, and I would imagine landslides will occur in the weeks to come as well, both of which will lead to exacerbating problems even further.
Actually we’d been going through a drought for a while there, was kinda hoping we’d get rain. And then we got it, for a week straight, and then hurricane helene came, after we got the rain we needed already
It poured down rain for 2 days here prior to Helene. The first system merged into hurricane before it hit Florida as well. Asheville is 30 miles from me. Burke and Mcdowell counties are bad. Every place is destruction.
I’m 45 miles east of Asheville. There’s even infrastructure washed out in Rutherford. Folks can look at Google maps and see where roads are known to be closed - if there’s no roads open into an area, it’s almost certainly one of the counties where entire communities got washed out or buried in silt. :/
I’ve driven from Charleston SC to Detroit MI. (Don’t want to talk about it). The route took me through Wytheville VA, ( It was during the “Paper Map “ days”, beautiful drive!
Hearing i-40 & i-26 at the TN/NC line will be closed for a very long time, especially i-40. You do have to give credit to the governors of all affected states for declaring a State of Emergency ahead of the hurricane, as that definitely gave residents & tourists time to evacuate & protect their property to the best of their abilities. What really happened is just..terrible.
Dude, donating money is actually better. Although you point out "middle men", anything you donate has to be collected, collated, and transported. If money is available, charities can buy and match donations from companies - like Walmart for example, that has distribution centers and can easily be loaded and trucked in. Direct food, water, and clothing donations are really only beneficial if you are in the local area where it can be used immediately.
I would have swapped your first and last sentence. Direct physical donations are absolutely best for the people affected at the moment. Obviously, if you don't live close enough, then that doesn't make sense as you're not going to ship gallons of water and such. There are literally hundreds of places throughout NC all the way to the coast which are collecting physical donations and sending trucks and trailers up to the region. This is an immediate relief.
Agree 100%. Geography guy is good at geography, but thank god he isn't in charge of aid. Send money not stuff.
99.999% of Americans are not going to appalachia soon. Those who are know what's going on and will bring whatever supplies they can carry. But you don't want America flooding appalachia with stuff right now. it will create more work than it's worth. 30k cans of cream of mushroom soup and 400 goodwills worth of clothes from the 70's anyone? Send Money!
He clarified. Honestly, with all going on in these areas (including my own in SW Virginia, it is hard to think things through.
Do what geography dude said. These Republican Governors will find friends to give money to. May be Trump will show up with some kitchen wipe rolls to throw out. Maybe these people will wake up to who helps people and who helps themselves in time for November.
Meteorologist here. As you described, the topography played a major role. The process of moisture rising due to terrain is known as mechanical forcing (or orographic lift), further enhancing rainfall as moisture condensed in higher altitudes. This isn't the entire story though. Leading up to Helene moving through the mountains, a Predecessor Rainfall Event (PRE) was taking place. In some places, over a foot of rain fell before Helene even made landfall. The PRE was due to the synoptic (large scale meteorology) setup of the eastern US. A deep trough in the Ohio Valley spawned a relatively strong localized jet streak (strong high level winds) along the Appalachian mountains, with western North Carolina falling into what is known as the "right entrance region", a region that is favorable for rising motion and hence storm development. This low pressure system stalled and closed off as Helene's low pressure entered the region and began curving west to ultimately combine into the existing system. All of these factors (synoptic forcing, mechanical forcing, stalled boundary and stalled closed off low, and unprecedented moisture from the Gulf of Mexico) lead to the record rainfall. On top of that, the mountains acted as large funnels to force the rain down into the valleys which is ultimately where most of the population and infrastructure is located.
Totally right. I live near Asheville, around a day before Helene actually felt more like a record rainstorm. I had a bad feeling that night when our crawl space was already flooded...
Yep, the cut off low was a huge part of this. He was a bit out of his area of expertise on this one.
Literally the perfect storm of the topography and the weather patterns caused the storm to stall out and dump an obscene amount of rain into the eastern Smokies
I've seen mechanical forcing at work while I was doing field geologic research in southern Nevada and south-western Utah (Basin-and-Range region, lots of low-lying basins with elevated mountain ranges) this past late summer. While I am a layman to meteorology, it was impressive to see how heat convection within the basins contributed to almost daily thunderstorms and heavy precipitation-- one day I lost power where I was staying at due to heavy winds and precipitation. Another day, a couple wildfires were started from lightning strikes in the area.
WRt topography, Am I correct in believing this? The mountains punched most of the stuffings out of Helene so by the time she got to Indiana, there wasn't much left of her. We received some wind & rain, but nothing torrential.
Most Wx coming into the Ohio Valley moves West to East but there's nothing much to drag the storms down by the time they arrive. Having a system come in from the South East is unusual here now.
When I lived in the NC Piedmont, Very severe storms moving West to East (sometimes tornadic) seemed to lose lots of intensity after crossing The Smokies. The storms weren't as bad by the time they arrived.
So I'm thanking the Appalachian mountains for saving us again! This time in INDIANA, not NC. it that gratitude unfounded? I know a lot of people are really struggling now in NC including some of my friends who will rue Helene for the rest of their days.
Im a longtime subscriber who lives in WNC. This is my first day on the internet since the storm hit, i was trapped in the woods for days and many neighbors lost their homes and cars. Thank you for making this, it helped me understand what happened to my region a little bit better. The last few days have been every bit as horrific here as the news is portraying.
I’m so glad you’re safe. We are on the eastern edge of the devastation. I drove some gear up to friends yesterday and it’s just heartbreaking how much is absolutely gone.
How much lead time did you feel like you had before flooding started? Seems to have caught many off guard
@JeffreyB1983 someone else on UA-cam was saying 4 hours.. but those people got stuck in impassible roads with water.
@@JeffreyB1983 agreed. One woman got the warning text to go to high ground a week after it happened so they lost cellphone service before that warning.
I’m a Brevard NC resident, the back roads are mostly ruined. We are getting resources now 10/1 but it’s been rough finding food, gas etc…. We appreciate all the help and love we’re receiving! Thanks to all
I was searching for news on the real scope of what is happening with this hurricane and The Geography King puts this video out coving all the bases. THANK YOU KYLE. Prayers for all those who were affected and suffered from this hurricane. 🙏🙏
One day when I was in Boone, NC we saw a creek that was rising after a recent rainfall. We saw it rise and then rise quickly. We ran to get away from it. We were from the flatter lands down from the mountains. I later talked to people from the mountains. They were taught as children to stay away from rising creeks. It occurred to me that all the rain hits the mountain sides and flows into the valleys where the cities are. That's why the water level rises so quickly in the mountains.
Same story as Katrina...
Poor people don't get news coverage....
@@marknc9616 Sounds like a modified version of why we stay away from dry washes and rivers in the desert when it's raining elsewhere. Next thing you know there might be a wall of water headed towards you. Can't even imagine if we got hit by something like that, it would overtop everything, even maybe the flood protection stuff the Army Corp of Engineers made like 50 years ago. But at least it would help.
Not much you can do when it floods your whole town, though, besides be prepared in advance with food and water. I saw one pic where a Wendys was flooded all the way up to the top. That's Katrina level stuff, just much higher elevation. Hopefully it flows down and we can get these people the help they need. I've already heard that supplies are being dropped into places they can't access by road.
Thank you for providing PRACTICAL, FACTUAL and IMPARTIAL information on the "why" of the situation in that part of the country. THIS was the information I was looking for.
UA-cam Creators are doing the best reporting on this. Thanks Kyle!
October surprise?
Greene County Tn here, and it's a mess. We have lost nearly all our bridges in the county, and some parts of the county are landlocked because of that. We have no water in Greene County at all. Some of us have no power or internet, and clean-up is an all-day thing. Terrible situation for about 6 states. Prayers to everyone involved.
Thanks for this overview. Respectfully, I must disagree with your suggestion that people not donate money. I work in disaster relief, and that is actually horrible advice...cash can be used anywhere, for anything, and is easily transferred and easily matched by big corporations. Food and water tend to pile up where they aren't needed, and it's hard to transport them to the places they are. Unwanted clothes actually become a huge garbage problem-don't donate clothes unless specifically asked to. Much better to send cash and then the people who need help can decide how to use it best.
If you refuse to send cash, diapers and women's sanitary supplies are a decent second choice, as they are expensive, always needed, and relatively lightweight.
Thanks for shedding light on this area...Appalachia is so often overlooked.
I would love to hear suggestions for donating $$ to reputable organizations. I have heard many say don't give to the American Red Cross - due to their high overhead.
@@DWNY358 my advice would be to research specific local relief organizations first, and see if you can arrange to donate to them. They tend to know who needs what help and how much better than huge relief organizations. That being said, Catholic Charities is considered a good choice as far as big orgs go, as is the YMCA. (I work for the government, just FYI, so I'm not promoting my own company or anything. These are my suggestions based on my personal experience and also charity watch type organizations. (But not charity watch itself anymore, they changed how the grade charities and not for the better.)
I also just wanted to add--yes, the Red Cross/Crescent has huge overhead and I wouldn't suggest them as a first choice to donate to for that reason. But I do have to say--in some situations, they are the best choice simply because of the shear access they have around the world. There are many places that the Red Cross/Crescent is allowed into that no one else is. They DO still help, so in many instances, they are the best choice. Research is key for each new incident.
P.S. I had a first comment but it keeps disappearing. Go for local organizations first and try to donate directly to them. Catholic Charities and the YMCA are highly ranked as far as bigger organizations go.
@@DWNY358it would appear my first reply got deleted for some reason. Basically, try to find local organizations in the affected area who are helping and see if you can directly donate to them. They tend to know the scene better and use resources more efficiently. As far as big orgs go, Catholic Charities is considered one of the better/more honest ones, as is the YMCA. There are websites that actually rank charities based on how much direct help they give and those two are always highly rated.
@@DWNY358 I would suggest Catholic Charities, Samaritan's Purse, Presbyterian Disaster Relief and or the Salvation Army. There are no exectives getting anything from your donation. I too believe giving fungible dollars is more useful to be able to fill voids yet to come.
I have family near Black Mountain that are stranded but hanging in there. Prayers for all ❤
Having a ton of rain in a mountain valley rarely ends well. The pictures and video of Helene's wrath are just horrific.
Yeah look at the 2010 Arkansas camping deaths. Exactly the same thing there. Tons of campers died in a valley in the rain.
You're the best, Kyle. I think I speak for many others as well when I say that I have an immense amount of respect for you and what you do. As an educator, you are just phenomenal at sharing information, be it a natural disaster or fascinating topic. Thank you for being informative not only with entertaining subjects, but also when that information is crucial to those experiencing something as unfortunate as this.
There was also 3 days of hellacious rain before the hurricane ever moved in. From Wednesday to Friday, 20-30 inches of rain fell across that region. It’s absolutely unreal.
I remember hearing that it was a dangerous series of weather events.
A Predecessor Rain Event, per the academic meteorological voices I'm connected to. They've been identified and analyzed for nearly 20 years at this point, but are not part of the broader vernacular.
Thanks for making this video. I’ve spent most of my life near this region (KY,GA) and visiting this region. I think many people don’t understand how remote and rugged this part of the country is.
My brother is an IT and Communications director in Madison County, TN. He was part of a team dispatched to Unicoi County, TN. He will run a communications truck but unfortunately they also brought 2 morgue trailers. Incredibly bad situation.
In JC right now at ETSU. We are devastated but trying our best. Man it's crazy because I took I26 to Asheville on Labor Day! Man I really hope we get out of this on a brighter side.
Really? Did Brush Creek flood? I asked a cousin in JC if she was fine but she seemed more worried about Erwin... I don't know what part of town she lives in but I got two more that live near Boone Lake in the north part of town. I should check on them.
I was really hoping for this because I wasn't sure why the flooding was so catastrophic since none of the dams actually burst. Thank you!
No swamps and marshes to soak it up, mitigate it. In Louisiana this would be little more than a nuisance, the flooding part.
@@Steve-318 Yes, Louisiana's geography is built to handle hurricanes. Florida's geography is built to handle hurricanes (historically) as well (doesn't do so good with 20 million people there).
Black mountain NC dam failed, which flooded Newport tn. In Unicoi county Tn, the Nolichuckey dam had more water flowing over it than Niagara Falls, and it's not even a third as wide.
@@proffitt72They kept saying it various dams were on the verge of failure.
Appalachia, the mountains are rugged so people live in the valleys, the roads follow streams through the valleys. And there are so many valleys and hollers, each one flooded and each one is cut off. The scope of that can be difficult to wrap one's mind around, this is a large region affected.
And those that have built on the hillsides are subject to landslides. And, unlike coastal regions, we are heavily wooded, and shallow rooted (and/or unhealthy) trees in full canopy were uprooted and dropped on people’s houses.
The mountains usually protect us from bad weather, until the weather gets really bad. Then the terrain makes it worse. When there's floods, then these narrow hollers become like riverbeds directing the water right to us. Same with tornados. Once twisters get in a holler, the hills effectively steer them right along a preset path.
I took Introduction to Forestry in college as an elective. This accounting major still remembers the following. Orographic lift and the dendritic drainage is a nightmare for the Appalachians.
Damaged from Florida to Ohio. Eastern TN and Western NC was hit the hardest but man this is just the beginning of hurricanes can keep its strength all the way to Lake Ohio. Portsmouth Ohio was flooded and Columbus, Ohio had rain for days and some flooding. Like, this is crazy that not even the mountains or being in land can save you.
I have a lot of friends who are stuck at App state and WCU areas, it's crazy how bad it got in these areas and how no one was prepared for it. Unsafe water supply, can't use credit or debit cards in some places - only cash, limited cell service and internet, airlifting food and water, running low on gas, destroyed infrastructure, and many communities completely destroyed and wiped off the map. Thank you for talking about this 🙏
I didn't even think about the people camping and hiking! The first thing I did think of was if you had stocked up and your house is flooded or washed away, what then? This is awful and I do believe the death toll will never be complete but will be high. I live down on the NC coast and I'm used to hurricanes. This is madness.
I live in Hickory NC, and luckily damage was minor here. It’s heartbreaking that my neighbors are suffering. The Hickory airport is actually sending helicopters to the areas hardest hit with supplies and aiding in evacuations. The Village of Chimney Rock has been mostly wiped off the map. Hoping these people are not soon forgotten. It’s going to be a long difficult road ahead.
I’ve got friends in Hickory I haven’t been able to contact. Your comment gives me some calm. Thank you
@@malaquiasalfaro81 Yeah, a lot of areas still have power outages. The cell phone coverage has also been very spotty since the storm. Hope you make contact with your friends soon!
Great explanation thanks for the info
Kyle, my folks are in WNC. I grew up there, and it's home to me. Thank you for talking about this. No one is talking about us. Everything I know from home is gone.
It’s only independent channel’s like you deliver facts.
I can't imagine what the smaller towns are going through. It's like when Katrina came through all you heard about was new Orleans but the ENTIRE Mississippi coast did not exist. All you see is Ashville in the news and seeing your map makes me understand why it's so bad. There aren't any roads
I live about 20 miles west of Knoxville TN and we just took an SUV full of bottled water, first aid supplies, diapers and pet food to the local democrat headquarters who are taking a truck trailer load of these items to the Erwin TN rescue center. If you are too far away to provide goods please donate to the response efforts in North Carolina and upper East Tennessee. It’s unbelievable how many lives this has changed so fast.
Thank you for the explanation. I’m absolutely heartbroken for all my friends that live in the beautiful mountain paradise of Asheville.
We're in east TN about a half hour from much of the flooding. One factor not mentioned anywhere is we had 3 days of solid rain before the hurricane hit. The waterways were already getting pushed to the limits and the hurricane pushed it over the edge. If we didn't get all that rain beforehand, my assumption is most of the dams would've had no problem controlling the hurricane rain.
Not to mention the saturated soil made a lot of the trees fall easier. Prayers from middle GA🙏🏼
I am a hydro geologist in East Tennessee. Infiltration of precipitation is dependent on antecedent conditions. Runoff becomes sheet flow when saturation occurs. Typical for this area, an inch of rain crosses the threshold. You hit the nail on the head. Those days of rain broke the drought and set the antecedent conditions for flooding.
So sad to see what's happened to western NC. It's bad here in the foothills so I can't imagine what it is like further up the mountains.
I live in Cherokee, NC on the Qualla Boundary. I am an enrolled member of the EBCI. There is only one community that doesn't have power or cell coverage right now. The rest of us never lost the electricity but for the first 3 days after the initial hit of the main storm, we didn't have cell coverage. But as of yesterday evening, we regained phone service. We are very lucky, but please pray for the rest of our neighbors here in WNC and the whole southeast. It's a very sad and tragic time for some of us!!! But, we are a strong people here in the south and will make it out of this!!! Thank you for all the love and support. GOD BLESS...
What do you think about the renaming of Clingman's Dome?
Kyle, thank you for spotlighting this area and terrible event. Dams have collapsed, bridges and highways washed away and I-40 will be closed for some time. This is an Atlantic-Pacific Interstate. I heard the northern route of I-26 from Asheville to Tennessee's Tri-Cities is washed away in two different areas. Over 100 people are missing in Tennessee alone and several of these mountains are 5000 to 6000 feet + high. Sadly some people have seen caskets popping up out of cemeteries and there is nothing the people can do until the water goes away (this sounds like something in Louisiana) People need food and water and electricity is hard to find. The death toll is tremendous and South Carolina had over a million families without power yesterday. For the most part, no electricity, no roads, no internet, no cell phones, no drinking water and no ATM services in this entire region. PLEASE DONATE WATER AND FOOD if anyone in your area is collecting donations. 100 miles west on the Northern Plateau we had 7" of rain but very little damage. The Concentration is the E TN, W NC, SC upstate and NE GA. areas. Thanks Kyle.
Money donations are best. In NC, the governor is asking people to direct donations through North Carolina Hurricane Relief Fund.
Remember that SUPPLIES cannot get to the people who are cut off. People are using pack animals to carry in things needed to basically survive off the land.
We need money to purchase satellite radios and Starlinks, and other direct communications devices. It’s frustrating that emergency response workers just a mile away from each other, have to depend on literally hand delivered paper notes or word of mouth, to coordinate with each other.
I read that the only way to get supplies into some areas is by pack mule. That’s so unreal!
Great video depicting the interaction of weather & mountains. My heart goes out to the people who are affected
For those who don't know, the Appalachians there are composed of soft, decomposing sandstone with just a thin layer of topsoil. They can take a couple inches of rain an hour for an hour and a half or so; beyond that, things start moving downhill.
There is not much of sandstone in this region. Sandstone is more common further west in Tennessee and further north in WV. Most mountains in North Carolina are composed of granite (mostly Nantahala and Blue Ridge Escarpment) and various gneisses and schists (often containing quartz or mica). You are right, though, about many parts having thin soil (especially on steep slopes and peaks). However, the main cause of mudslides, erosion, washouts, etc is the pure volume of water. As mentioned, this region is the second rainiest region of contiguous US (it is actually considered a rainforest).
Quite ittterally
Thank you for this video. Hopefully more resources for the people of this area.
I was on vacation in Asheville right before the storm hit. I left just 3 days before they got completely flooded. So many of the places I visited got severely damaged right after I left.
That's a cool map. Could look at that sucker for hours.
We appreciate you for everything, Kyle
Hey prayers out to you man and everyone you know, friends family etc. I have a cousin in Asheville and he lucked out bigtime, but others didnt.
A similar event occurred in August, 1969 in Nelson County, Virginia. Hurricane Camille which had been downgraded suddenly dumped about 27 inches of rain in 3 to 5 hours at night. 114 people died and 33 remain missing. The bodies of a family of four were found along a creek and it was surmised that they had been hiking on the Appalachian Trail and camping overnight beside the creek. They had no identification on them. From the few details that were found it was surmised that they were from Europe. Strangely, they were never reported missing anywhere and they remain unidentified.
Thanks for highlighting this problem, Kyle it's really bad hearing from my friends in Weaverville and Black Mountain (whom I haven't heard from yet). I feel OK sending my money to The Y'all Squad based in Pikeville, KY. They're a 501c(3) that does Weather Disaster Relief. Check them out on the internet and vet them for yourself. I've already contributed. I'm not affiliated with the Yall Squad, Ryan Hall's just my favorite UA-cam Weatherman / Meteorologist.
I love that your using physical maps. I understand it much better.
So many unaccounted for still hoping for the best 🙏🙏
Stay safe down there, and I hope everything gets back to normal soon and nothing bad happens to anyone else down there
Thank you so much for explaining this. It’s really difficult for folks who don’t live here to understand how devastating this storm was.
You spoke of the French Broad carrying the water through Asheville. The Nolichucky was the river that caused the flood damage in Erwin. Across the mountain, it was the Doe that caused the flooding in Roan Mountain and Elizabethton. The Nolichucky washed away a landmark bridge in Erwin that was the route of the Appalachian Trail.
French broad also got the flood water from the NC dam failure that caused the Pigeon River to flood Newport. Both French Broad and Nolichucky drain into the same resevior at Douglas Lake. The Douglas Dam is the only thing holding all that water from flooding downtown Knoxville.
I live off the doe river in Elizabethton and it's bad.
I'm so glad you shared your perspective, thank you!! Disaster zones are the perfect place to use drones for searches and deliveries of small payloads of water and medicine. There is a big role for drones in our future disaster response efforts.
Thanks for making this video. I have spent a lot of time in Franklin, NC. It rarely the storm that gets you, but the aftermath. I have faith the folks stranded will take care of each other and work together.
Great video! What you are saying reminds me a lot of the 2010 Arkansas camping deaths event.
This is NOT what happened. I am in Haywood County. We were getting rain for a full TWO DAYS before Helene even arrived. A cold front moved in Tuesday night, and it started raining, non-stop. When Helene was approaching Florida on Thursday night, the upper level outflow from Helene started to feed more moisture into the stalled front. We already had over 10-15" of rain by that time. When Helene finally arrived Friday morning, we were already starting to flood in places. Helene blew through in less than 24 hours and was gone by Saturday morning. The total from the original rain from the storm front AND Helene was 20" to 30" in 72 hours. This would have happened ANYWHERE that got 30" of rain in 72 hours.
Yes, the YT channel Convective Chronicles has been sharing the meteorological academic discussion on Predecessor Rain Events, which occur ahead of a tropical/post-tropical cyclone when it changes direction after landfall.
@@RizzenMurray the way you word it, you make it sound like the hurricane CAUSED the rain event. The rain we were getting was totally independent of Helene, and would've happened anyway. I will watch their video and see what they said.
The rain storm prior to the hurricane saturated the ground, but the speed of the storm slowed. Helene was there "less than 24 hours", but most hurricanes blow by in MUCH less time than that. It was slowed due to topography. The orographic uplift of the lower atmosphere created a larger amount of precipitation on the eastern side of the mountains, and significantly less on the western side. Without the Appalachians, Knoxville would've gotten it nearly as badly as Asheville, yet it was just a "normal" heavy rain event there. The predecessor event without Helene causes limited flooding in only the lowest lying areas. Helene without the predecessor causes significantly more flooding, albeit not as catastrophic without the predecessor, but don't blame the predecessor for being more responsible than the hurricane for the catastrophe.
@@GeographyKing Helene, without the PRE, causes about the same amount of flooding, not significantly more. The PRE, alone, was going to be 10-12". Helene, alone, would've been 10-12". Less than 24 hours was actually 12-18 hours.
Dropping off a tote of canned food tomorrow with a local organization that is flying a Blackhawk down to bring supplies.
I moved from Hendersonville, NC to Seattle area and I was surprised to find out that Hendersonville gets about 13 more inches per year than Seattle. Seattle is just overcast and has more rainy days. Hendersonville has 60 more days of sunshine yearly. Two more months of sun! We don’t really have storms here, the rain is light and the drops are small. It does seem to be changing here to be more like the south. It is already pretty similar. Same crops grow here.
Seattle here as well. That said, the summers here are usually pretty dry (I assume you've noticed how the grass turns yellow like in California); the vast majority of our precipitation falls during the winter, which seems to be the usual pattern over the whole West Coast. Meanwhile from what I've heard the East Coast doesn't really have a dry season, and slightly more precipitation comes during the summer.
Hey, GK. It's definitely bad up there so thanks for this video. I got caught up there on the border, Elk Park, NC side. Took awhile to get roads open, supplies, etc. but a MAJOR hurdle was no cell signal anywhere from Boone, NC past the TN border a ways. The lack of communication has made the distribution of resources and help so much more difficult because we're so used to being connected these days.
These kinds of floods used to be more common in Appalachia, but then we built the flood-control dams and lakes. Sadly, this storm was just too much for the these flood control systems in place, so we again have the kind of damage not seen in the mountains in the last two or three generations.
Nice to hear you're in Chattanooga! NW GA here, Chattanooga is a 45 min drive for me. My husband and I have awesome memories of driving in those gorgeous mountains! Prayers for our countrymen .
I really appreciate your knowledge, passion, and constructive care 🙏🏾
As someone from the emergency management field, unless your close enough to transport the supplies, money is needed.
If your close enough to transport, donate ONLY what they're asking for. No clothes or junk they dont have space for. Get with a local organization or contact your local VOAD to see where to donate food, water and household supplies.
This is exactly right. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Here in Monroe County WV, we've had over 13" of water in the last week.
Not complaining, as we've been in full drought condition since July.
Our spring failed in August and we were without running water since then, but it's now come back with a vengeance.
I used to be a raft guide down in western nc. So many of my friends are still out there and it’s so scary.
I'm glad to see people talking about this. The disaster is much larger and far reaching than most people realize, and it will be years before some areas are recovered, if they recover. I'm south of Charlotte, NC where we were lucky, but everyone west of us is in really bad shape.
I’m just so worried about the cut off communities. In some places, their main road - and all their main stores - is just gone. There’s lots of tourists and retired urban transplants who aren’t prepared for an extended survival situation. :/
Very clear reporting. Thanks and prayers.
Thank you for putting this video together.
Thank you for helping us understand the why's of the catastrophe.
The ETSU football team missed the I26 destruction merely 20 MINUTES early. I'm so glad they got back to JC safely
This reminds me a lot of what happened in Colorado in 2013. Unprecedented rain poured down on the foothills, squeezing the moisture out like a sponge as it passed over the mountain peaks.
I live in a mountain community in CO where we were cut off by destroyed roads for several days after that storm. It took years to repair all of the roads with some remaining closed permanently.
My thoughts and prayers are with those in Appalachia!
I really loved this and i would love to see more videos like this, tying geography into the scope of some of these natural disasters and maybe some refreshers on how flood zones are established
I have been looking for a video explaining what happened for an hour thank you for sharing
Thank you so much for this information. Just couldn't understand what was going on and you explained it so clearly. Prayers for all who are suffering and may relief come very soon.
For people anywhere near the region, find a reliable group that is directly helping and donate supplies to them. We have too many people already in the area to support with what supplies we have and the best help is people just bringing gear and supplies in, not hands or money
Orographic uplift happens there a lot especially with dynamic systems. That and the steep topography definitely played a role in all this.
Orographic uplift is why the West is so dependent upon mountain snowpack. Pacific storms hit the Cascades and Sierras and Gulf storms hit the Rockies, and the main source of water flows down to the cities and farmlands via the rivers.
Thanks for posting this Kyle. I’m really worried about stranded people in remote places. We were just in those mountains the weekend before the storm. I’m afraid many might not be able to leave what’s left of their property.
I appreciate getting a geographer's perspective on this disaster! Especially one that lives nearby and knows the area. I live in northwest Georgia, myself, and we really got off light with this storm. It was heading right at us and then shifted course. Good for us, not... quite as much for the victims in the Appalachian states. I've been up in that area a few times, and the terrain is definitely very rugged. I agree that recovery is going to be a long, hard, miserable slog.
Thank you for the explanation, my son was bracing for the worst in Rocky Face(GA) but it went around him and you. It went north and west to Nashville and Kentucky
Thank you for this video. I live in Chattanooga like you, but I go fishing all in the areas you’ve mentioned. So much disaster to such a good group of people.
this is what I've been wanting to understand, thanks for this!!
We had a similar type of issue in the mountains west of las vegas. The "hurricane" passed over the city and was just a little rain and then hit the mountains and dropped like 10 years of rainfall in10 hours.
It's all of WNC and some of the foothills. They had their backs against the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the strom hit them like train. All the wonderful little towns and cities are devastated. From Burke Co NC to Cocke Co TN. That whole stretch of the Interstate 40 corridor. Beautiful country 😢
Great explanation. Thank you.
Went to Western Carolina University and Asheville has been the go-to weekend spot for me all my life. This is truly hard to wrap my head around and I can’t believe this actually happened.
Thanks for the explainer, King
Always love your videos. You might consider a soft light for segments like that last portion of the video. It was very dark and hard to see many of the things you were pointing out and explaining on the map. That aside, your content is always excellent work! Thank you for the timely and topical video.
Reminds me of images of Vermont and upper New England from last year's floods. Just small pockets of population centers in between big mountainous ridges and valleys. Hope everyone is safe.
Great info dude! Thanks
Great job, Kyle! I-26 from Erwin, TN, to at least the NC state line is CLOSED. It will be for several months.
Was just in Asheville after Labor Day for my brother in law's wedding and it is terrifying to see the devastation. Wedding venue was demolished as it was right next to a major river. His wife's family lives there and they are even getting food airlifted to their street by whatever local/national authorities. Just awful.
Glad I found your channel. Few minutes in and subscribed already. I can tell this is a channel for me 🤙
Thanks for an excellent video
Pray for all of us small town folks cut off from water and electricity and food and still having to cut our way out. I’m in middle GA here and we got hit hard it was a borderline cat 3 here based on our towns wind meter. We got rocked hard but it looks like nothing compared to NC. If anyone can help (especially NC) in any way it would be much appreciated
You have your phone charged, so that's a positive!
Thank you, very informative
great explanation!
I have to imagine that the regularly large amount of rain means that the soils were already quite saturated, and I would imagine landslides will occur in the weeks to come as well, both of which will lead to exacerbating problems even further.
Actually we’d been going through a drought for a while there, was kinda hoping we’d get rain. And then we got it, for a week straight, and then hurricane helene came, after we got the rain we needed already
@@markvickery5894 Man, that’s even worse then. Seems like a perfect storm when it comes to causing lasting damage.
It poured down rain for 2 days here prior to Helene. The first system merged into hurricane before it hit Florida as well. Asheville is 30 miles from me. Burke and Mcdowell counties are bad. Every place is destruction.
I’m 45 miles east of Asheville. There’s even infrastructure washed out in Rutherford.
Folks can look at Google maps and see where roads are known to be closed - if there’s no roads open into an area, it’s almost certainly one of the counties where entire communities got washed out or buried in silt. :/
thank you for making a video on us geography king!
I’ve driven from Charleston SC to Detroit MI. (Don’t want to talk about it). The route took me through Wytheville VA, (
It was during the “Paper Map “ days”, beautiful drive!
My relative in Tampa lost her townhouse. It's totally ruined. I'm grateful she's fine. The pictures of the devastation iin NC is beyond belief.
I heard Newport, TN had some major flooding.
Hearing i-40 & i-26 at the TN/NC line will be closed for a very long time, especially i-40. You do have to give credit to the governors of all affected states for declaring a State of Emergency ahead of the hurricane, as that definitely gave residents & tourists time to evacuate & protect their property to the best of their abilities. What really happened is just..terrible.
Thank you for the information...so sad!