As someone living in Florida where people generally are able to predict and prepare for storms like this (even though they still cause devastation), I had absolutely no idea that it was possible for devastation like this to occur from a hurricane all the way in North Carolina. My power didn't even go out. Did the people living there know this could happen? Was it a surprise??? How is there so much flooding over there???

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The bad flooding is because of how steep those areas are. Down in Florida, water takes a while to make its way into the creeks, streams, and rivers. The areas with the most extreme flooding is because entire mountainsides worth of rainfall drains in the span of a couple days.

Eastern TN and western NC also had a ton of rainfall from thunderstorms just before Helene so the ground was already saturated. For reference check out this rain gauge in Asheville.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/353312082355545/#parameterCode=00045&period=P7D&showMedian=false

The rain from Helene didn't really get to Western NC until the early hours of Friday the 27th. That gauge was already at 10 inches by that time. So really the storm before Helene brought more rain than Helene did. Either the thunderstorm or Helene alone would have been moderate, but manageable flash floods, but the two back to back was insane.

[–] grue 9 points 1 month ago

I had absolutely no idea that it was possible for devastation like this to occur from a hurricane all the way in North Carolina.

That's because it's only really becoming a thing due to climate change.

[–] loie 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

They rarely get hurricane direct hits, but deal with the remnants of major hurricanes a lot. Not many homes are storm proofed like you'd see in Florida though. Clearly their city storm sewer infrastructures are not equipped to deal with the combination of a high annual rainfall followed by a deluge like this.

Edit: I want to clarify that Eastern NC is more prepared than out west, the eastern half sees stronger hurricane remnants more often than out west, where they still get them but they're weaker from the mountains. Not this time, apparently.