calculus1

Light rain all day here in Hickory, though there were rarely any radar returns overhead. Squeezed 0.72 inch of rainfall out of the atmosphere today. Nice! We needed it.


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On 10/13/2024 at 4:37 PM, kvegas-wx said:

I'm confident you won't find anything more than people defending their property and telling FEMA to take a hike.

I don’t understand this. What (or who) are they defending their property from? Is someone trying to take their property? (This is a legit question.) Why would you tell the agency willing to give you money to go away?

I have no ties to FEMA in any way, but I can tell you their response to my family in Old Fort was fantastic. FEMA met them at their property five days after the event to review their situation and do their initial survey. Five days later they received email notification of the dollar amount they would be receiving from the federal government for the total loss of their house. (It’s obviously nowhere near the amount the property is worth, but we never expected that either.) We were all incredibly grateful at FEMA’s rapid response.

I’m baffled that others are flat out refusing any financial assistance from FEMA and are threatening their employees (if that is what is meant by “defending their property”).

I do recognize that not all mountain areas are able to be accessed as quickly, but over time, I would expect everyone to get their own visit from FEMA. Is the time issue what is being debated here? Do people feel FEMA isn’t helping because they haven’t been able to reach their property yet? FEMA would have limited resources (travel capabilities, number of employees, etc.) like any other organization. They can’t be at every location immediately, as they’re not omnipresent.

I just don’t understand, I guess. I am so befuddled by this anti-FEMA reaction. People come to your door and want to give you money, but you tell them to go away? Where is the logic in that?

3 minutes ago, Buckethead said:

Hey yall, just checking in. Wolf Laurel and the rest of Yancey County are in shambles. We stopped trying to clear roads around 830 on Friday because it was way too dangerous. As we walked back to the vehicles. I'm fairly certain we saw a tornado spin up and head up my road. Every power pole and probably 500 trees on my road were snapped and tossed all over. My house was somehow spared any damage, but it's a 2 mile hike in through the woods. We have lots of help up here, but it's going to be a long time before we have any semblance of normal life.

I hope all of you and your families are safe.

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So glad to hear that you are okay, @Buckethead! Thanks for checking in.

I’ve never seen it so quiet in here. This is very sad. Our mountain members are simply incapable of posting because communications are nonexistent in many of those counties.  Last posts of several prominent members:

@Buckethead: Monday, 10/23

@HWY316wx: Thursday, 10/26, 8:10 PM

@BretWx: Thursday, 10/26, 9:29 PM

@NEGa: Friday, 10/27, 4:41 AM

@Moonhowl: Friday, 10/27, 9:06 AM

@Met1985: Friday, 10/27, 11:34 AM

@Rainforrest: Friday, 10/27, 12:34 PM

@BooneWX: Friday, 10:27, 1:27 PM

@Tyler Penland: Friday, 10/27, 8:58 PM

@mercurydime: Friday, 10:27, 10:52 PM

I’m sure there are others that I’ve forgot, and please forgive me for not including them — it’s not intentional — but these are just a few that have come to mind and that I haven’t seen since the height of the storm.

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.

Montreat is pretty much gone, or at least all access to it. I went to college there. My family goes to church there. If you are familiar with the area, here’s a TikTok I found of Lake Susan being overrun. The water is going down the only road into the cove. So sad.

My family is safe. We praise God for that tonight.

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

I-40 at the state line:


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


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What part of Old Fort. I'm terrified I can't get ahold of anyone on Crooked Creek.

Can you link the map?

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

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

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

Here you go.


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French Broad River in Fletcher now above record levels

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

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

Power outages map


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


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

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

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


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Just got home. Closed the college early.

3.02 inches since midnight. 4.02 inches storm total counting yesterday’s rainfall.

More Cocorahs totals coming in…


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