Helene, now officially a hurricane, is predicted to make landfall in Florida on Thursday evening, Sept. 26.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm was centered roughly 60 miles east-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, early Wednesday. Helene was driving sustained winds of 80 mph and was moving northwest at 10 mph.
While the Florida coast will certainly see the worst of Helene’s effects in the continental U.S., severe weather is expected in Western North Carolina in the coming days that could cause serious flooding, landslides and widespread power outages.
AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter commented on potential impact to the Southeast in a news release.
“Helene could cause a flooding disaster in some areas of the Southeast, especially in the higher terrain of northern Georgia, upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina,” Porter said. “This is due to the combination of rain ahead of Helene on Wednesday and Wednesday night and then another thrust of torrential rain Thursday and Thursday night as Helene moves inland.
“In this area, 8-12 inches of rain can occur, with the heaviest coming within only a few hours when the rainfall rate can exceed 2 inches per hour, which is enough to cause significant and life-threatening flooding. The risk is greatest in the steep terrain of the Southern Appalachians, where mudslides and rockslides can occur. Some communities may be cut off with no way to enter or exit if there is damage to infrastructure such as bridges and roadways.”
Here’s what else we know about the looming effects of Helene in the WNC area.
More: Tropical Storm Helene to become major hurricane before landfall in Florida: Live updates
Flooding, landslides a possibility
As of 3:50 a.m. Sept. 25, a flood warning was issued by the National Weather Service for 11 a.m. the same day through Friday afternoon. The warning is in place for WNC and several other southern states, with rains expected to bring “significant and damaging flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.” The alert also warned that areas that are not typically impacted by floodwaters may flood due to the excessive rain.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Clay Chaney told the Citizen Times that part of this risk is the combination of two separate sources of heavy rain.
“One of the setups, though, for Asheville that’s concerning is that we’re going to have a lot of rainfall prior to Helene — we’re talking 4 to 8 inches of rainfall across the mountains, especially along the Blue Ridge Escarpment,” Chaney said. “Then on top of that, you get that tropical rain band associated with Helene on top of strong wind gusts, that’s likely going to result in numerous trees down, numerous power outages and also numerous landslides.”
High winds, heavy rain and power outages
Due to Helene, high winds are also a particular concern. Chaney said that wind speeds are expected to peak beginning Thursday night, with maximum wind gusts that may reach 50-60 mph in the Asheville area early morning through midmorning Friday.
This could be particularly damaging with the heavy rainfall the area will see before and during these high winds.
“With all that rainfall, the soils are going to be super saturated, and so when you factor in the wind gusts to kind of go along with that, the trees are just not going to be able to stand,” Chaney said.
Wind and fallen trees may result in power outages across WNC. Chaney predicted that total rainfall from the combined storms could reach 8-10 inches in the Asheville area, and up to 10-15 inches along the escarpment area.
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Weather in Haywood County
Earlier Sept. 25, Haywood County officials sent out a news release regarding the county’s preparation for the storm. The release said that all available resources are being mobilized in the face of Helene, with emergency personnel and resources in place and ready to respond as needed.
The county’s Emergency Operations Center will be fully staffed beginning Thursday and will remain operational throughout the event. Fire departments are currently assessing their district and staffing swift water teams in case of emergency.
Following the impact of Tropical Storm Fred on the area, several new river gauges were installed to provide data to emergency personnel. They are not yet listed on the statewide public flood gauge site at fiman.nc.gov, but are functioning “behind the scenes.”
As in the case of most WNC areas, the NWS is calling for severe weather in Haywood in the coming days. This includes sustained winds of 30-35 mph and gusts of 55-60 mph, as well as around 7 inches of rain closer to the Tennessee line and 13-14 inches near Cruso, all peaking late Thursday through Friday morning.
Weather in Hendersonville
As for the Hendersonville area, the NWS called for around 10.5 inches of rain, with up to 13-14 inches possible in the southernmost areas of the Henderson County, also mainly falling late Thursday through Friday morning. Sustained winds are predicted at 25-30 mph in valley areas and up to 30-35 mph on ridges, with gusts of up to 50-55 mph.
How to prepare for Helene
“The time for preparation is rapidly closing and they need to be completed with a sense of urgency,” Chaney said. “This system, especially from a flooding threat, is going to be pretty similar to Fred if not worse.”
Fred slammed the area as a tropical storm in August 2021, causing widespread flooding and deaths. The Pigeon River flooded, sweeping away many homes and structures in Cruso in Haywood County, where six people died.
Chaney suggested assembling an emergency kit containing essentials including first aid, phone chargers, water bottles and nonperishable foods, a flashlight, batteries and ideally a weather radio. Make sure your phone is charged and your gas tank is full – and of course, take NWS warnings seriously.
“Heed all warnings that we put out, especially once you see us potentially put out flash flood warnings, especially emergencies – emergency basically means that the flooding is life threatening and catastrophic, and we try not to use those words lightly around here.”
He added that flooding has the potential to become so severe that the NWS may issue warnings advising residents of certain WNC areas to seek higher ground.
Previous reporting from the Citizen Times also recommended the principle “if you can pick it up, put it up.” The following was suggested.
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Trim trees around your house.
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Bring loose outdoor items indoors.
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Clear gutters and drains.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Hurricane Helene: Heavy rain, flooding, power outages to Western NC
