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Hurricane Helene Devastates Six States, Leaves 230 Dead
Written by Austin Skeete.
In the final days of September, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the U.S., becoming the fifth named storm to do so this year. The hurricane carved a 500-mile path of destruction across six states, killing approximately 230 people, with many still missing and presumed dead. A significant number of the fatalities occurred in western North Carolina.
Some areas of the state received more than two feet of rain in just three days, causing rivers and streams to swell to historic levels. Entire homes were swept away in the resulting floods.
“We’ve had biblical flooding here,” Buncombe County Assistant Director of Emergency Services Ryan Cole told the Citizen-Times.
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer called the damage "unprecedented" and "catastrophic" in an interview with Fox News. “It is going to take a long time to dig out so that we can rebuild and continue to be the amazing city that we are,” Manheimer said.
The damage was not confined to the western part of the state. While only two deaths were reported in Mecklenburg County, the property damage along the Catawba River was severe.
Hunter Wilson, owner of Tailrace Marina, told The Charger that his business was heavily damaged by the storm.
“I bought it in April of this year Five months later, a hurricane destroys the place,” Wilson said.
The floodwaters swept away an entire dock and severely damaged others, with total damages estimated at around $500,000.
The financial toll from Hurricane Helene is expected to exceed $50 billion, with 95% of the damage uninsured, meaning most of the cost will fall on those affected.
Although Wilson’s marina is insured, he said that getting a payout would be challenging.
“It’s going to be an absolute battle between our team and the insurance team,” he said.
Notes: Austin Skeete (author) and Evan Albert (photographer) visited areas affected by Hurricane Helene to survey the damage and speak to people affected by the damage.
