On Monday, September 23rd, a series of scattered thunderstorms merged together over the northwestern Caribbean sea. Over the next few days, they would develop into Hurricane Helene: a devastating category 4 storm that tore through the southeastern U.S., killing hundreds, washing away towns, and causing an estimated $160 billion in damage.
Two days before it would make landfall, Helene churned northwest, causing mudslides and flooding in western Cuba before inundating parts of Mexico. On September 25th, it officially became a hurricane as it passed by the Yucatán Peninsula. Due to the combined effect of a high pressure system over Florida and a low pressure system near the Mississippi Valley, Helene turned due north. Invigorated by unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, it rapidly strengthened, slamming western Florida with tropical storm force winds.
On September 26th, just after 11pm, Helene made landfall at Keaton Beach, a small town in Florida’s Big Bend region. Wiping out entire communities with its 10 ft storm surges, the hurricane claimed the lives of 20 Floridians before heading further inland. It killed 33 in Georgia as it continued northward.
But the worst was yet to come. Helene would cause the most damage in the Appalachian Mountains, an area that is usually safe from the effects of hurricanes. The devastation this area experienced is hard to describe. Asheville, a city in western NC and the surrounding smaller communities were hit particularly hard. In total, 115 people lost their lives in North Carolina. 49 were killed in South Carolina, 12 in Tennessee, and 2 in Virginia. These death tolls likely aren’t fully accurate as many are still missing, and because of how recent the storm was, sources disagree on exactly how many died. For example, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services states that, so far, there have been 95 confirmed deaths from Helene in their state.
Entire towns have been washed away. In Chimney Rock, a small mountain hamlet in North Carolina, “Every single building has been destroyed or severely damaged,” according to Peter O’Leary, the town’s mayor. In Erwin, Tennessee, the Nolichucky river rose from 2 feet deep to 30. Patients and staff were rescued by helicopter as the local hospital was overtaken by a torrent of muddy water. Despite the storm, the Impacts Plastic factory in Erwin remained open, resulting in the deaths of six workers.
In Fairview, NC, 11 members of the Craig family were killed when a mudslide destroyed their neighborhood. Jesse Craig reflected on the tragedy in an interview with WTVD, listing off his loved ones who had passed. “My mother and my father, my aunt and uncle, my great aunt and uncle – I’ve lost cousins, second cousins.”
Meghan Drye, a 39-year old woman from Asheville also lost everything in Helene. When her house began to flood, she made it onto the roof with her parents, Nora and Michael (both 73), and her 7-year old son, Micah. “I got my son to the highest point of the house that I could,” she explained, “but once the house detached, we ran into power lines, and we ran into trees, which knocked us off into the water. That’s when I went under, and I lost sight of my mom and my son, I could hear them screaming.”
The geography of Appalachia makes it susceptible to flash flooding, as water moves quickly down mountain slopes and is channeled into valleys. The mountainous terrain also makes it harder for people to flee, as just one damaged road can cut off a town’s access to the outside world. The people living in these small, isolated communities were stranded during the storm, unable to escape. It was also very hard for rescue crews to reach these people.
Helene was the fourth deadliest hurricane in the U.S. since 1950. As of right now, at least 200 people have been confirmed dead (sources disagree on the exact amount), and almost 100 are missing in North Carolina alone. Countless more have been left without homes.
Just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton made landfall at Siesta Key, Florida. Milton prompted the evacuation of millions due to its rapid intensification into a category 5 storm. In Tampa, residents who chose to stay were warned “you are going to die” by the city’s mayor. It was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane by the time it arrived at the coast, but it still caused immense damage in an area reeling from Helene. So far, 25 have been confirmed dead.
Hurricane Helene was unusual in many ways. For example, it developed in the Caribbean Sea, as opposed to most hurricanes, which form off the coast of Africa before crossing the Atlantic. Helene was also able to maintain strength very far inland. This can be attributed to the warmer-than-usual waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which fueled its rapid acceleration. Milton was also fed by these waters, becoming the most powerful late-season storm in the Gulf because of the extremely warm water that lingered later than usual.
Climate change is making hurricanes worse. Waters around the world are now warmer than ever, meaning storms such as Milton and Helene, which grow rapidly and can occur startlingly late, are becoming the norm. Weather patterns are also much more erratic and unpredictable then they used to be. No one expected landlocked Appalachia to get swamped by a hurricane. In fact, some went so far as to call Asheville a “climate haven,” free of rising sea levels, dangerous heat and tropical systems. But, as Helene proved, the effects of climate change can no longer be predicted like this.
Helene serves as a warning to those of us who think we are safe from the effects of extreme weather. Dr. Peri Mason, a science teacher at BHSECQ who specializes in ecology, highlighted the unpredictable nature of weather due to climate change. “They used to call it global warming before they called it climate change,” she explained, “and the reason they started referring to it as climate change is because it’s really about increased variability.”
When asked if this increased climate variability would cause more hurricanes and tropical storms to impact New York City, she said it probably would. According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, “Extreme storm events are becoming a greater threat to New York State”. Since 2011, we’ve seen storms such as Irene, Lee, Sandy, and Ida impact the NYC area.
However, Mason emphasized that, while we will start to be impacted by increasingly severe storms due to climate change, others will have it worse. She explained how, “those tropical storms are, of course, having their largest effect on tropical places.” Many low-lying countries, in the Caribbean, for example, often face the worst damage from hurricanes. Mason highlighted the fact that these countries are responsible for a very small percentage of the emissions that are contributing to climate change. Meanwhile, countries such as the US are contributing to climate change much more and yet aren’t affected as badly. “The places that are responsible for the really heavy C02 emissions, and other greenhouse gas emissions, are not the places where people are feeling it the most.”
Damage from Helene in Valdosta, Georgia