kvegas-wx

I'm not going to say they were getting shot at, but those guns ended up being needed more than once when they were escorting FEMA door to door. As @Met1985says, this is quickly becoming a humanitarian disaster.

https://youtu.be/w86T7IiaowQ You may find this of interest. Filmed around the Burnsville / Spruce Pine area. These are my peeps and friends of peeps running search/rescue/recovery/aid ops in conjunction with the guard and FEMA. Still cannot believe this damage. So much forever gone!

931mb / 145mph Cat 4....but ugh the tornadoes!! Could this be the bigger story?

After just spending the weekend in Spruce Pine and Burnsville, I can't even imagine what you are going through Met in a much more remote area. The search and rescue there must be overwhelming. Are you getting aid sent in? Some of the more frequented areas are declining aid and asking it to be sent to a central dispatch location because they can't manage the volume. So I hope your areas are seeing similar support. If not, please ask for help!

Its coming no matter what guys. We can't stop it. And just because there is misfortune elsewhere, that doesn't mean our lives stop. We can enjoy it. We SHOULD enjoy it. But we can also continue to provide aid and support for others. Both can happen at the same time. Survivors guilt is creeping in a bit here because it hits so close to home. If Helene never happened but Milton wrecks Florida tomorrow, I can promise you we would still be right here rooting for snow. It's ok to seek normalcy, even when others close by are affected. Let me be the first to say it....I am GLAD this summer is over. I have been to so many scorching hot jobsites this year I'm DONE! Happy to see the first hints of a cooler trend coming. All of that said, I will find myself right back in Florida next week handling storm recovery efforts. These people are truly suffering!

FL winds are going to be insane. How do they even fly a heading like that??

There are likely more than 100,000 people across the mountain regions that are going to require rescue. Seeing another storm potential less than a week out is beyond disturbing. We're looking at a trainwreck on a dumpster fire should this occur, and simply put, people will die. We either need more time to get these folks airlifted out or we need to get supplies in asap ahead of a potential next storm. I cannot fathom how bad this will become with another 2,3,4 inches of rain, or more.

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.

For context for those that dont live there, what is normal and what is flood stage at that point?

Tornadoes are going to be a BIG problem overnight and tomorrow morning across the entire region. Really hope that folks don't get caught off guard further north. Just had a TOG in Rocky Mount VA!

937.7mb now. Still intensifying!!

939 MB and 140 from NHC. Looks to be the last update before landfall.

Tornadoes becoming frequent now in GA/SC. Could be a big story developing with tornado damage well inland. Just had one an hour ago in northern NC.

The old gal is PISSED!! Power outages rapidly increasing inland and will be in the millions shortly. Over 600,000 now. Line crews will be busy for MONTHS after Helene gets done. Disaster response crews are stretched very, very thin on this one.

Are we posting Tornado Warnings in this thread to keep the relevance or in the obs thread? Just had one in Rockingham County.

TOG? Or just indicated?

I would take an isolated Charlie over this any day. Since I work in an industry supplying equipment to disaster response companies I can confirm the mobilization orders are already in place and the calls for equipment are non-stop. FL, GA, SC, NC, TN are all on alert.

I see a blue hut. Brings back many fond memories of the blue shed. Will it survive? (Likely not)

Flying east over Pensacola now and then up the east side of the rain shield into Charlotte. Pretty amazing, nothing but light chop. I think the pilot said we were at 38k feet. Someone said earlier this will be Atlanta's Hugo. Spot on. Accelerating storm, intensifying storm will move far inland keeping ATL on the northeast quad. Not much good news to be found with Helene.

I'm going to be flying into that stuff coming from Atlanta in about an hour because somebody on here told me to fly today.

So rebook for tomorrow night. Got it.

Whats the latest thinking on forward speed? I'm flying Thurs mid day from New Orleans thru CLT to GSO. I'm fine with bumpy. Just more concerned about cancellations in the SE if Helene comes in fast.

As a Wolfpack alum that had many a snowball fight in the quad, I find this stunning. I can see a year, or maybe two, but three full years?? I think we had heavy snow every year I was in Raleigh.

Anyone have a current rain total in Winston / GSO? You can literally stand and watch the creeks rising up onto several roads where I live. It is noticeably fast.

River and creek levels are getting ready to pop tomorrow night and Friday as all of this runoff makes its way east. 5-7" over most of the area in a 24 hour period? Yeah, expect some shocking videos. Emergency response calls for equipment started coming in this morning. Lots of folks already flooded out of their homes down south. This is going to get ugly for a couple days.