Echoes of Appalachia

---

It has now been 214 days since Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeast, leaving an indelible mark on Appalachia. And the clean-up still continues across North Carolina and Tennessee.

According to the National Weather Service’s Tropical Cyclone Report, Helene is now considered the most destructive natural disaster in Western North Carolina’s history.

Helene was the deadliest storm to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, resulting in at least 249 deaths — including 106 lives lost in North Carolina and 21 in Tennessee.

Of the total fatalities, 175 were directly linked to the hurricane’s fierce winds, heavy rains, and flooding. Another 74 deaths were tied to indirect causes, such as heart attacks, medical emergencies, car accidents, and injuries during post-storm recovery efforts. Across the Southeast, emergency crews rescued over 2,700 people trapped by floodwaters, with more than 1,000 rescues taking place in Western North Carolina alone. Haywood County saw some of the largest rescue operations in the mountains.

The financial toll was just as staggering. Damage estimates put the total cost around $78.7 billion, making Helene the seventh-most expensive hurricane ever recorded in the United States. In Tennessee alone, cleanup and repairs are expected to cost more than $2.1 billion, with many rural communities still struggling to rebuild.

In terms of infrastructure, about 7.4 million homes lost electricity at some point during the storm, impacting roughly 16.2 million people. North Carolina saw 1.8 million outages, while Tennessee faced widespread blackouts, affecting approximately 320,000 homes.

Forests were not spared either. The North Carolina Forest Service reported that nearly 822,000 acres of timberland were damaged, with an estimated loss of $214 million.

In Haywood County alone, flooding damaged around 600 homes, several hundred of which were completely destroyed.

Hurricane Helene initially made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm — the strongest ever recorded in that area since the early 20th century. It continued to batter inland areas of Georgia as a hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm.

Wind speeds during Helene were extreme. The highest lowland sustained winds were recorded more than 40 miles inland in Florida at over 73 mph. Meanwhile, Mount Mitchell in Yancey County, North Carolina, reported gusts exceeding 105 mph — the strongest winds measured in the Appalachian Mountains during the storm.

Before Helene’s core even reached the mountains, Western North Carolina and East Tennessee were already being slammed with heavy rain, soaking the soil and causing rivers to rise dangerously — setting the stage for catastrophic flooding once the full force of the storm arrived.

Even today, 214 days later, cleanup efforts are still underway in parts of North Carolina and Tennessee. But there are bright spots too. My hometown of Marshall, North Carolina, is celebrating its grand re-opening. If you’re able, come out and support them as they rebuild and move forward stronger than ever.

The town of Marshall, NC is having a grand reopening event from May 1-4 to celebrate the recovery of downtown businesses after damage from Hurricane Helene. This event, called Marshall Magic Days, will feature music, art, shopping, and food & drink. The record store, Oasis Ltd. Records, is hosting a music event on May 3 to coincide with the reopening. The event will feature local musicians The Merciful String Pickers, Subject to Change, Paint Rock, and Monster wave. 

-Tim Carmichael