Y'all, in case you aren't following what's happening in the southern Appalachians right now, the area is about to be devastated by floods, hurricane force winds, and landslides. A huge band of storms has just passed through, and Hurricane Helene is expected to arrive sometime tomorrow. Some areas will get 18 inches of rain or more.
Biltmore Village and parts of Asheville are under water.
A tornado touched down in Blowing Rock.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is closed.
The flood gates on Lake Lure were opened *last night*.
The National Weather Service is literally begging people to take note, issuing warnings with severity that rival those in the lead up to Katrina.
This is a *thousand *year flooding event, at least. It's going to be catastrophic.
The #SouthernAppalachians are my happy place, the place that keeps calling me back, the place my people have been for generations.
I cannot even fathom how bad this is going to be.
And as bad as it is when a hurricane hits the coast (and #Helene is going to wallop the hell out of the Florida panhandle), it's many times worse in the mountains. Creeks become raging rivers in the blink of an eye. Land slips down mountains, burying entire communities. Evacuation routes get blocked. Supply lines, too--and sometimes for weeks. Communication lines go from spotty to nonexistent.
And many, many mountain folk have little to no safety net outside their immediate community.
@DrTCombs I love that area and was planning a trip there in a few weeks. It's looking bad.
