ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Flooding is always a threat when a tropical system takes aim at the North Carolina mountains. While Tropical Storm Helene definitely caused widespread and deadly flooding on its trek across Western North Carolina, that wasn’t the only danger the storm posed. Helene spawned more than 2,000 landslides, the United States Geological Survey said.

As of Wednesday, Dec. 4, the USGS put the total number of landslides at 2,004. Of those, some 1,064 were flagged, meaning they impacted rivers, roads and structures.

Some 103 storm-related deaths have been confirmed in North Carolina by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Of those, 23 were listed as being caused by landslides.

Flooding and landslides also devastated area roadways. The North Carolina Department of Transportation said 1,454 incidents and 1,364 closures had been reported since the beginning of the storm.

Of those, some 1,107 have fully reopened, 266 remain closed, 90 are partially accessible, 49 remain closed to truck traffic and six roads have reopened in the last week.

Areas heavily impacted by landslides include:

  • Lake Lure
  • Bat Cave
  • Chimney Rock
  • Swannanoa
  • Black Mountain
  • Hilly areas north and east of Asheville (Linville Gorge and Table Rock)
  • Blue Ridge Parkway up to Blowing Rock

Additional landslides may be hidden under the tree canopy, the USGS said.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE HELENE-RELATED DEATHS IN NORTH CAROLINA

Hurricane Helene landed in Florida on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 storm and then headed toward the mountains of North Carolina.

The USGS activated on Sept. 28 to support the North Carolina Geological Survey and Tennessee Geological Survey. The USGS Landslide Assessments, Situational Awareness and Event Response Research (LASER) team is providing technical assistance through remote and field reconnaissance, including mapping landslides on the Hurricane Helene 2024 Landslide Observations, according to the USGS website.

Hurricanes and heavy rain are known to trigger landslides in the mountains of Western North Carolina. According to the USGS, the first well-documented landslides following a storm in the southern Appalachians happened in 1916 when 22 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.

Asheville’s Flood of 1916 stood as the one by which all others were measured — until Helene. The flooding in 1916, which happened when two tropical storms converged on Western North Carolina that summer, left 80 people dead and made a wasteland of the landscape.

According to the city of Asheville’s website, the French Broad River, usually about 380 feet wide, stretched 1,300 feet across. It crested at 21 feet, some 17 feet above flood stage.

The flood of 2024

From Sept. 25-27, rain drenched the mountains.

More than 18 inches fell across southern Yancey County, western McDowell County, southeastern Buncombe County and northwestern Rutherford County, according to the North Carolina State Climate Office. That included 24.41 inches at the ECONet station on Mount Mitchell and 19.99 inches at the station on Bearwallow Mountain.

The highest apparent total from the event came from the North Carolina Forest Service’s RAWS station in Busick in Yancey County, with an unofficial  three-day accumulation of 31.33 inches, the climate office said. In addition to these automated weather stations, four CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network) observers recorded three-day totals of more than 20 inches: 24.12 inches in Spruce Pine, 22.36 inches in Foscoe, 22.12 inches south of Black Mountain and 21.96 inches south of Hendersonville, the North Carolina State Climate Office said.

All that rain sent area streams, creeks and rivers out of their banks. The French Broad and Swannanoa rivers saw record crests during and after Helene.

The USGS showed a provisional record flood of 24.67 feet on the French Broad River in Asheville on Sept. 27. And downstream at Blantyre, the river surpassed its 1916 crest and was still rising when the gauge stopped reporting on the afternoon of Sept. 27, North Carolina State Climate Office said.

The Swannanoa River at Biltmore crested at 26.1 feet, more than 5 feet above its 1916 maximum and slightly above the apparent 26-foot crest in April 1791, making this effectively the worst flood along the river since North Carolina became a state, according to the North Carolina State Climate Office.