Inland flooding from tropical cyclones, even at high altitudes, is a major worry—and one that scientists don’t know enough about Hurricane

Why Appalachia Flooded So Severely from Helene’s Remnants

submited by

Style Pass

2024-09-30 23:30:02

Inland flooding from tropical cyclones, even at high altitudes, is a major worry—and one that scientists don’t know enough about

Hurricane Helene hit Florida’s western coast as a Category 4 hurricane on September 26 and was accompanied by serious storm surges—but the damage didn’t end there.

Still a Category 2 hurricane when it swept into Georgia, Helene dumped staggering amounts of rain over eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, far inland and at much higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains than people often consider to be at risk from hurricanes. All told, Helene is known to have killed more than 100 people, predominantly in North and South Carolina and Georgia—and that count will likely rise. Because the communities most affected are difficult to reach, simply understanding the storm’s total damage is likely to take months, says Janey Camp, a civil engineer at the University of Memphis.

“These are historic flooding levels in an area where the terrain is not conducive to being able to withstand those levels of precipitation,” Camp adds. “Unfortunately, it’s a perfect storm for one of the worst-case situations you could have.”