All of you in the path of Helene be careful

[Alfisti]

What's odd is all i saw on social media as this storm rolled in was how lame it was and all the dire predictions were wrong. 24 hrs later and you need a fucking ark to cross the street.

What the hell happened?

[vreihen16]

Did you check the meteorologic credentials of the "experts' posting on social media?

The power co-op near our SC tree farm is down to less than 10% without electricity, and the area around the tree farm has power again.....

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

What's odd is all i saw on social media as this storm rolled in was how lame it was and all the dire predictions were wrong. 24 hrs later and you need a fucking ark to cross the street.

What the hell happened?

I don’t know what they said specifically, but it’s usually very location dependent. Like where we are in NC I did not see any flooding at all. The only issues was trees falling, in the areas with less trees no real issues.

Next to rivers or creeks a lot of stuff got flooded or taken out completely. That’s why I would be very concerned buying property next to water. We almost bought one place right next to the river, the. We started looking up that river and seeing video from all the times it had overflowed and taken out the road and houses and shit.

So if you are on high ground with no trees you probably think no big deal, but if you are next to a river or a tree falls on your house… big deal.

That being said it’s a running joke in FL the weather people love milking ANY hurricane. It could be a cat 1 that does nothing and they will have a reporter out next to some palm fronds pretending it’s the end of the world.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

That being said it’s a running joke in FL the weather people love milking ANY hurricane. It could be a cat 1 that does nothing and they will have a reporter out next to some palm fronds pretending it’s the end of the world.

Not from this storm:




.

[spazzyfry123]

It's been pretty nuts on our end. Personally, at my house, no big deal. Fair amount of storm cleanup, but that's because I have acres of trees. A fart of wind is guaranteed to drop some branches.

But I cover a fair amount of people in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Augusta is like the beginning of some zombie movie with 2 mile long lines at gas stations, grocery stores wiped out, power restoration is projected in about a week. Our W NC and Upstate SC crews are in bad shape, too. Chimney Rock doesn't even look to exist anymore. Still haven't been able to make contact with a handful of people. Yikes.

[floridaorange]

Chimney Rock, Banner Elk, Boone, Blowing Rock. Linville Falls all got it really bad. Most homes and business are flooded, no electricity no water. Elderly people stranded - National Guard are helicoptering in.

This is the dam at our families property - insane.

[F32Fleet]

This is Lake Lure just SE of Asheville NC.

The Broad River runs from Asheville to the lake. You can see all the shit it brought down including wiping out the city of Chimney Rock.

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

It's been pretty nuts on our end. Personally, at my house, no big deal. Fair amount of storm cleanup, but that's because I have acres of trees. A fart of wind is guaranteed to drop some branches.

But I cover a fair amount of people in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Augusta is like the beginning of some zombie movie with 2 mile long lines at gas stations, grocery stores wiped out, power restoration is projected in about a week. Our W NC and Upstate SC crews are in bad shape, too. Chimney Rock doesn't even look to exist anymore. Still haven't been able to make contact with a handful of people. Yikes.

Attachment 3564585

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Similar here, clearly most folks first rodeo. We moved here from New Orleans and we all know at any hint of a storm you keep your gas tank full.


And yes, WNC is terrible. They had upwards of 8 inches of rain the day before the storm arrived. Ground was already saturated so nothing but run-off.

[2000cs]

Power back on here at about 7:45 pm today (Sunday). Went out Friday at 8:00 AM. Fortunately fair weather and comfortable temps. Outages here were all over, and just our little area was 3 different lines down that I saw (may have been a 4th). Neighbors cleared trees from roads, helped each other out. Refrigerator food either grilled (propane) or tossed.

Two down trees on our property, minor damage to one fence. Lucky; lots of roof and vehicle damage all around.

Daughter and family live in Hendersonville NC, just S of Asheville. (Asheville badly flooded and seems no road access from any direction. I-40 lost at least two lanes to river erosion, no idea what that will take to repair.). No power or water for them, but can’t get to them to provide anything. Told us stores that are open only accept cash as networks are down, but ATMs are either not working or empty.

This was a huge surprise storm. Yes, we all saw the hurricane and its path, but the amount of wind, its slow pace over these areas, and the rain caught everyone off guard. And for some it was devastating or fatal.

TVA manages the lakes/reservoirs on the west side of the mountains, Duke I think manages them on the east.

Pic is a screenshot of the lake we live on. Note the sharp increase in lake level Starting Wednesday. Still rising but they’re releasing as much water as they can without flooding downstream (Knoxville to Chattanooga).

[floridaorange]

My Mom predicted they would get more impact by the storm up in NW NC at over 3k ft above sea level than we would here in Cntrl FL. Meaning, those who have been around these storms their whole lives were prepared.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

My Mom predicted they would get more impact by the storm up in NW NC at over 3k ft above sea level than we would here in Cntrl FL. Meaning, those who have been around these storms their whole lives were prepared.

Asheville last had a severe flood over a century ago, before flood control dams were built. TVA monitors the weather and the entire watershed on the western side of the appalachians and pretty accurately predicts lake and river levels, and manages the reservoirs accordingly. Yet neither was prepared for, nor expecting, what happened.

I went to bed Wednesday night expecting rain and some wind, as forecast, essentially a typical spring storm. I woke up at 2:00 AM to the sound of the wind and saw that it was from the north (eye moved up GA into western NC and then across S TN to Knoxville and over to Owensboro KY, so rotation counter-clockwise resulted in northern winds, which we rarely get). Northern winds, with sustained speeds in the upper 20s and much higher gusts, will take down trees that haven’t had north winds for years or decades. So I immediately alerted my family in NC, KY and Cincinnati to be prepared and get anything loose outside secured.

I spent a lot of years overseeing risk management for an electric utility; I am well informed and prepared for all kinds of events, but this took the professionals, old-timers, tech savvy, weather nerds and just about everyone else by surprise. Much worse than predicted because the storm stayed intense and moved in a very unusual direction.

The issue now is how to help. Asheville this morning still appears to be cut off via road, power is out all over Duke-Carolinas, far eastern TN has lost some towns entirely and a lot of damage throughout the area. Food supplies are running short, as is potable water. No sign of government help (oxymoron?) yet, but locals are already organizing food and water caravans; businesses that can are making their facilities available, etc.

We were lucky, being on the very northern edge of the effects of the storm. 10 miles south of us, and beyond, it is beyond belief.

[floridaorange]

She's a farmers daughter, great weather sense. Their family has lived and died by the weather for generations.
Didn't mean to imply she was expecting this outcome, but that NC might be more affected than central fl.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

She's a farmers daughter, great weather sense. Their family has lived and died by the weather for generations.
Didn't mean to imply she was expecting this outcome, but that NC might be more affected than central fl.

The wisest people in this country, in my experience, are farmers. Not always the most educated, but the wisest.