It’s a gorgeous morning in my Charlotte neighborhood. The sun is shining, wind is still. Hard to believe we got hit by Helene yesterday.
Not everyone got through unscathed. Just 2 1/2 miles northwest, residents were evacuated as the Catawba River swelled past its banks.
Three miles west of my house, the road into Mount Holly (over that same Catawba River) is flooded out. Most of the residents there still don’t have power.
In the mountains
It’s far worse for the areas Helene visited after here. That includes so many places in the mountains I’ve grown to love so much:
- The NC Dept. of Transportation says, simply, “All roads in Western NC should be considered closed.” That includes big chunks of Interstates 40 and 26, major routes to and from the area.
- The 252 miles of the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway were closed in advance of the storm. No news yet on when it might reopen.
- All the rain that’s fallen – not just from Helene; there were big storms in the days leading to its arrival – has converted many roads to waterways and properties to ponds.
- Mudslides and fallen trees have added to the damage.
There are iconic places that are no longer there, replaced by rocks, mud, the remains of buildings and homes:
- The touristy town of Chimney Rock has washed away.
- A hospital in Erwin, TN was surrounded by water. Dozens of staff and patients had to be rescued from the roof by helicopter.
- That same water, roaring down the Nolichucky River, took out a bridge where the Appalachian Trail crossed. The bridge led to funky hostel Uncle Johnny’s, now seriously damaged.
Floods also did damage to popular “trail towns” Hot Springs, NC, Roan Mountain, TN (a frequent haunt of mine) and Damascus, Virginia.
I had hoped to get up to Tennessee (Roan Mountain!) before it got too cold to make one last check of “my” segment of the AT. Now, I won’t be getting there till April.
Meanwhile, things like heading to the mountains for freshly picked apples, or to watch the leaves changing for fall, will be out of reach for most of us.
It’s going to take a long time to sort all this out.