In the area of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, things are really bad in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene winds and rain. The massive flooding in the entire SE region has created multiple crisis points in NC, TN, GA, SC, AL and Virginia.
In Western North Carolina, eastbound Interstate 40 is gone. I-40 washed away by massive amounts of water through Pigeon River, near the Tennessee state line. {STORY HERE} Initially, state officials denied the collapse because it was impossible for anyone from the state to get to the area to confirm it. They later said, “oh, shit- it’s real”… and now admit it will take a long time for repairs.
In northern East Tennessee the Interstate 26 bridge has collapsed near Erwin. I-26 is closed eastbound at mile marker 37 and closed westbound at mile marker 43. {STORY HERE} Again, this is another closure that is likely to take a long time for repairs.
The region where Tennesse and North Carolina come together at the base of the Appalachian Mountain range has been severely damaged. Transit into the area will be impeded for a substantial amount of time. Rivers and streams throughout the area are far beyond their capacity and only now starting to recede.
I know we have a lot of Treepers in this area. Check in if you are in any of the affected areas and let us know your condition. There is going to be a significant amount of time delay in getting resources moved into the area to assist, and the national MSM do not seem to be recognizing the issues.
UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Several state routes and an area of Interstate 26 in Northeast Tennessee are closed on Friday due to downed trees and flooding, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).
TDOT spokesperson Mark Nagi said I-26 is closed both ways around Exit 40. The interstate is closed eastbound at mile marker 37 and closed westbound at mile marker 43.
Approximately 12,000 vehicles per day use the I-26 bridges located at mile marker 39.6, according to Nagi. (read more)
NEWPORT, Tenn. (WSMV/WBIR) – Interstate 40 Eastbound is closed to all traffic at Mile Marker 432 in Cocke County due to catastrophic flooding in Tennessee and North Carolina, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Part of I-40 going into North Carolina has washed away.
“This is a serious and life threating situation. DO NOT TRAVEL TO NORTH CAROLINA,” NWS Morristown said in a tweet.
Spokesman Mark Nagi shared several videos of the Pigeon River flooding onto I-40 in Cocke County. (read more)
ATLANTA, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Authorities across a wide swath of the southeastern United States faced the daunting task on Saturday of cleaning up from Hurricane Helene, one of the most powerful to hit the country, as the death toll continued to rise.
At least 43 deaths were reported by late on Friday, and officials feared still more bodies would be discovered across several states.
Helene, downgraded late on Friday to a post-tropical cyclone, continued to produce heavy rains across several states, sparking life-threatening flooding that threatened to create dam failures that could inundate entire towns.
Police and firefighters carried out thousands of water rescues throughout the affected states on Friday.
More than 50 people were rescued from the roof of a hospital in Unicoi County, Tennessee, about 120 miles (200 km) northeast of Knoxville, state officials said, after floodwaters swamped the rural community.
Rising waters from the Nolichucky River prevented ambulances and emergency vehicles from evacuating patients and others there, the Unicoi County Emergency Management Agency said on social media. Emergency crews in boats and helicopters were conducting rescues. (read more)
Everyone check in and let us know that all is ok, if not – whether you need help.
IMPORTANT CONTACT NUMBER re EMERGENCY HELICOPTER RESCUE IF NEEDED IN WESTERN NC*****
REED TIMMER EXTREME METEOROLOGIST (lives in SC or NC) Follow him on FB. He’ll be posting info on WNC
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/ZDid2vTeyLgji8Yn/
Road conditions for Tennessee :
https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic?features=incident,traffic
REED TIMMER EXTREME METEOROLOGIST – FB page
Here is some very important information on the Appalachian Flooding Disaster from Hurricane Helene
APPALACHIAN FLOODING DISASTER
**This post contains multiple aspects of information on the apocalyptic flooding that is ongoing in East TN/West NC due to flooding worsened by Hurricane Helene. Please see all attached photos. Please post any CONFIRMED, pertinent information to be added to this list. There is very limited access to these areas at this time, so any information you have to contribute is appreciated **
*People are trapped and stranded, many without supplies. There is limited access to these areas, but please know teams with air rescue are currently being deployed to assist in any way possible. Most of the area is without electricity, so if you cannot reach loved ones, that is why. Teams are heading out with Starlink to give access to those affected as well. We should know more about this situation as news comes available.
**MISSING PEOPLE** –
*Follow this link to fill out a report for welfare checks –https://forms.gle/uDGPEdag6RvUaXGeA
*Anyone wishing to report a missing individual is asked to prepare as much information as possible–such as last known location, name and phone number, vehicle description and other identifying factors–then call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
*Anyone who has not been able to get in contact with a loved one in Unicoi County is asked to call 423-560-0261 with information. A release from Unicoi County Emergency Management Director and Incident Commander Jim Erwin states operating crews will follow up with callers as soon as possible.
*Greene County Emergency Management officials said community members concerned about missing people in that county or Greeneville should call 423-798-1729.
*Facebook reunification page, *DO NOT DONATE HERE*, this is for missing persons only – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1736857060051597/
*From Total Flight Solutions:
“ATTN: We are currently operating helicopter operations out of Western NC. If you are in need of supplies or flight assistance please feel free to contact us either at 919-497-5511 Ext 1 and leave a message or email us at [email protected].”
*
LOCAL NORTH CAROLINA COMPANY ACCEPTING PHYSICAL DONATIONS
They are going to be collecting items to take to the mountains for people and their pets.
MAIN DROP OFF PLACE:
Sweet Magnolia Estate
10101 Bailey Rd.
Cornelius, NC
*Power Outages:
North Carolina –https://poweroutage.us/area/state/north%20carolina
Tennessee – https://poweroutage.us/area/state/tennessee
*Open Shelters:
https://www.readync.gov/stay-informed/open-shelters
*Volunteer Opportunities:
Operation BBQ Relief –
https://operationbbqrelief.org/volunteer-obr/
Marco Patriots –
https://www.marcopatriots.org/copy-of-contact
*Emergency Shelters**: Local Red Cross shelters are open for those displaced by the floods. For locations, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or visit http://www.redcross.org.
**Tennessee Emergency Management**: Visit http://www.tn.gov/tema or call 615-741-0001 for updates and assistance.
**Mental Health Support**: For crisis counseling, reach out to the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746
*Thank you to United National Weather Team for their hard work and contributed information and to everyone else that contributed information on this post.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/kthL4k6hE9cpVUu5/
Thank you! That is great information to share.
Treepers are the best.
🙏❤️
Your welcome! Praying for the best for all of you who are suffering losses.
Alleycats, you might want to follow Reed Timmer Extreme Meteorologist Facebook page. He is posting all kinds of rescue/recovery info for NC. — Operation Airdrop (supplies) contact info for US Sector of Coast Guard Sector NC for rescues, etc.
I believe he lives in NC, where his mom & sister just lost their homes. He’s an extreme meteorologist. He storm chases and collects data in the eye of ‘canes (he was in Perry) and tornadoes. He’ll have the best data for NC but it might give clues as to the same ops that might be in TN, etc.
He’s always in the eye of the storm. He knows the drill and one has hit home for him. It’s personal.
👍❤️🙏
In upstate sc its the worst I’ve ever seen before. Power out all over. Some spots have power but most don’t.
Trees on houses everywhere.
Roads packed with people looking for food and gas.
Its a big big mess.
It will take a lot of time to get power back on.
I’m living off the grid.
People in this area are getting a lesson.
People throughout America should take heed. Don’t they realize that Mother Nature can strike in a flash, that hackers could take down the grid, that a near earth object could hit……..
Who in this day and age does not have several weeks worth of food and supplies on hand???
Apparently that’s the norm…..
Unbelievable
So very sad 😭
Terror attacks, outbreak of war, water main disruption, etc etc etc etc the possible scenarios are endless
Highway 107 Kisner Bridge over the Nolichucky in Afton TN is washed away:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/watch-road-bridge-collapses-into-east-tennessee-s-nolichucky-river-due-to-helene-floods/vi-AA1rnNcP
Sad to get political here but there is zero chance there will not be a climate emergency lockdown or some kind of climate change industry leverage, perhaps “climate denial misinformation costs lives” and the patriot act agencies start going nuts against Maga
No worries. It is political. HARRP messing with the weather and peoples’ lives. It’s election time ya know.
Absolutely
Hubby and I were vacationing at Lake Lure in Rutherford County NC this past week.
Folks, that area is destroyed. Huge powerlines and trees down everywhere. Bridges washed out. Roads washed out. No power, no running water, no internet. No communication capabilities at all.
We had to leave for home today since we were running out of food and water.
So many roads were impassable we kept getting turned around. Finally a wonderful road crew in Polk County gave us directions via old country roads that got us to I-26. From there we were able to get home.
Pray for the people and first responders. We passed many utility convoys heading towards the disaster. God bless them all.
Glad you got out safely
The gas lines in upstate sc are longer than they were in the 1970’s.
Thats how bad it is.
Power out no gas.
Power out many grocery stores no food except publix that has generators but anything in a cooler or frozen has been thrown out.
No meat, milk etc.
I had to wait 20 minutes for gas in a long line at qt.
😳
Banks closed and no atm if no power.
I drove an hour to find a bank.
I went on a scouting mission and I didn’t like what I saw.
Forayed out into the wilds today seeking gas for generator in middle SC. Ha! Same devastation. Been providing showers to the neighbors and water refills since we can run our well. Poles snapped off and lines down. 3 huge trees fell in what we think was a twister on a dead end road. It’s been a crazy 2 days at home. Thank God well stocked except for gas this certain week i lagged at getting it. 😠 but learned many more preps needed. More canned and bulk broke down, not so much fresh.
❤️🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏❤️
It would be helpful if posters identified the town, city or County they were reporting on.
Well I think we are trying to be a bit hidden in our location.
I will say I live near Surgoinsville Tennessee.
I lived in Rogersville for 5 years! Small world.
Some Treepers cannot share there location due to numerous safety concerns
Helpful? Maybe not.
I live in NE Tennessee. We had 8 inches of rain before Helene hit. She brought another 5 inches of rain. And lots of wind. Took out my greenhouse but we were going to tear it down today anyway and start building a cedar greenhouse in a couple of weeks.
I live in a very interesting valley in the Appalachian mountains. We either get crazy storms funneled through the valley or are protected by the mountains surrounding us. We live 1/4 mile from the Holston river and it did breach it’s banks by about 15 feet but no one got flooded here in town.
we have a very close knit little community here so no one will have to worry. 🙏❤️
Knoxville has an online map with power outages across the entire area. You can click on a county, then select details to get an idea – although it’s strictly number of customers with and without (no map like Duke Energy’s).
https://data.tennessean.com/national-power-outage-map-tracker/area/tennessee/47/
I’m in a small town between Greenville and Anderson SC. The entire town is without power. Downed trees and power lines everywhere from reports. No gas, no internet, no cell service until 6pm this evening. i feel horrible for the poor folks in WNC and East TN who have it far, far worse. We are doing okay though, fortunately we had trees taken down last year. As another poster said, people are waiting in long lines for food, gas, etc.
Someone posted on the Easley residents page about potable water running out, and residents are being urged to conserve.
I don’t look for anyone in the federal government to give a $#!+ about any of us. They have sent everything to Ukraine and are actively trying to destroy us. There is something very insidious about how little was communicated about this storm, until practically the last minute. They destroyed the poor people in Hawaii, whose to say this isn’t part of HAARP? Since when do hurricanes travel over land from Florida to Kentucky?
I lived at the coast for most of my adult life, evacuated / experienced many hurricanes. But this is unbelievable. I suspect we will be in the dark, literally, for 10-14 days at the least.
Pray for the suffering, esp the little children, the first responders, and the linemen and their families.
They are SLOWLY starting to get electricity back to patches of the upstate area. North of I85 across the Carolinas is the worst.
The largest areas are the Greenville/Spartanburg area and the poor people in the Asheville area.
Anyone in the Carolinas can put in their address and see what’s up locally at Duke Power’s website:
https://outagemap.duke-energy.com/#/current-outages/ncsc
I live in north Georgia. Nothing happened. Just rain —not much but was steady. This morning the sun was shining. What i cannot understand is how this storm just turned to nothing here. I am 60 miles north of Atlanta .
Same here, “…how this storm just turned to nothing here.” Middle rural GA, went to bed with dire weather report, rains/winds. Awoke early and a bit of rain no winds, overnite. About 8am, strong winds, and clearing rain. Winds done by noon, power had been off from about 8am to noon.
A few, 4′-8′ long branches down, many small branch clusters, in one area of my 5 acres.
Those long branches no more than 4″ diameter. Put them on burn pile myself, no man needed.
Prayers are all we can offer for now, such sad news. 😞🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
THE worthless, SOB in the gov mansion, ROY COOPER has DONE NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING.
Bodies are everywhere in NC, houses are burning or have burned. NO power, NO cell service, NO food, roads are IMPASSABLE in the entire sector of western NC.
SPREAD the word, Biden’s buddy ROY COOPER has DONE NOTHING.
This is an epic 1000Y flood.
People are in peril.
Friends traveling in this area. 10 hrs looking for a hotel because daughter’s home they were to stay at wiped out. Black Mountain, Asheville, Marion NC area. Gas stations overwhelmed. Hotels of any sort booked. Businesses destroyed. Even when back in their homes, their place of work wiped out.
My friends are awake and helping, but the vast amount of people do not even have a weeks worth of provisions to make it without help.
This is awful! The area isn’t in a prone area; but so many live day to day and cannot even last 24 hrs without aid. It’s unbelievable. My friends told me that people they meet are freaking out because they NEED a HOT shower daily and won’t stay in their “safe” but no power home.
I just don’t get it………….
A ton of the people in that area are died in the wool far leftists without the faintest grasp of reality that haven’t the vaguest idea about preparedness or self reliance – much less the concept of helping those around them that are worse off. It can be one of the hardest things to do, but assessment of priority and need are essential in cases like this. Hot showers don’t register. Injured and homeless are the priority.
Artsy Fartsy peeps meet reality head on.
The National Guard, OUR MILITARY, helicopters, aircraft MUST be authorized.
NC’s gov is doing what he’s done for 4Y, engage and prop up Biden/Harris.
Ukraine and THE WORLD get OUR tax $$$$ EVERY DAMN DAY and give us NOTHING in return. Z just LEFT WITH $millions and $billions and OUR CITIZENS in western NC ARE DYING.
I-40 has been closed in Statesville to prevent anyone going into Asheville and western NC. It’s for safety and I get that.
NC DOT is telling people to CALL RED CROSS???????????????? How damn stupid…that’s THEIR message posted on social media.
I am glad I didn’t spread a whole bunch of American gensing seeds on my family property 40 miles NW of Asheville. Shoot, I don’t even know if the A frame cabin is still standing at this point. I can’t get ahold of anyone up there.
Lord Have Mercy
Ashville water system “severely damaged”
https://wlos.com/news/local/city-of-asheville-begins-extensive-repairs-after-severe-storm-damage-water-resources-department-infrastructure-hurricane-helene-restoration#
Daughter in bedroom community of Augusta, GA (Evans) by Ft Gordon. Some trees down, no electrical, water ok, using outside grill for cooking. GA Power estimates restoral by Thursday 3 Oct. May be sooner as neighborhood clusters get restored. Slight wind damage (part of back fence laid down) but not commensurate with scale of the water impact in the area from the rain which kicked ass.
We are west, nearly an hour, from Augusta, and slow to learn of Augusta’s lack of electrical put a crisis to their gasoline/food needs. Augustonians have come to our macro community seeking gas/food (Walmart). Our Ingles closed with the storm; the only free standing grocery store. I learned of this simply heading to town for gas & cat food. Came home without both.
Godspeed all affected by Helene.
From TwitterX
Pinellas County (@PinellasGov):
“Electric Vehicles that have been flooded in saltwater can catch fire. If you evacuated and left an electric vehicle or golf cart in your garage or under a building and you are not able to get to it or move it, we want you to let us know. /1” | nitter.poast.org
https://nitter.poast.org/PinellasGov/status/1840042408832045266#m
WLOS NEWS 13: Exclusive eleven minute Interview on Saturday Night with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
Mid-TN okay.
In their great wisdom, Duke Power reportedly moved 90% of their repair resources from SC & NC to Florida before the storm hit. Now 1.3 million in Florida are without power, but over 1.5 million in SC & NC are dark! We’re getting lots of feel goods from Duke, but no action so far here in rural Spartanburge county.
I do believe this was intentionally done using D.E.W. = DIRECT ENERGY WEAPONS
JUST LIKE MAUI. I recommend looking up DEW.
I don’t think people understand not only how widespread and severe the devastation of this hurricane has been, but how this could potentially be the worst natural disaster most of us have seen in our lifetime. Allow me to explain:
Hurricanes hitting inland are rare, and as such, an advanced natural disaster plan or even an effective warning system for this sort of event simply does not exist in Appalachia or the mainland US. Appalachia gets *mild* flooding from time to time, but NOTHING like this. Unlike coastal states such as Florida, they were completely and totally unprepared. The most that was communicated by the NWS was a thunderstorm warning, and by the time people were given the delayed instruction to evacuate, it was too late. The roads and bridges were already submerged or blocked off. Many of those who were able to make it onto the road drowned in their vehicles. Gas stations are running out of gas, and people are waiting in lines that are miles long. Asheville has experienced a compete blackout; 911 is unavailable, no one can make any calls, and every major road or bridge to Asheville has been destroyed. Many parts of Western NC are now only accessible by air, and entire towns such as Chimney Rock, Swannanoa, and Montreat are completely gone. Literally wiped off the map. The death toll is already at 64, countless people are missing, and horror stories of dead bodies floating in the water, stuck in trees, submerged underwater in vehicles abound. And this is only what we currently know about.
This is truly a once-in-thousand-years type of catastrophe that has the potential to make Katrina look like a child’s birthday party by comparison. I cannot stress enough how devastating this hurricane has been for hundreds, even thousands of communities in the southeastern US. Many of these areas will likely never be the same, if they’re even able to recover at all. Entire towns are just… gone. Critical infrastructure that no longer exists. Farms, livestock, and crops decimated. Culturally and historically significant buildings and landmarks washed away. Not to mention, many of these areas were severely impoverished to begin with, and have economies that rely on tourism and mining/manufacturing/blue collar jobs. Good, hardworking people were already struggling to get by under the crushing weight of inflation in many of these rural communities, and what little they had has just been ripped out from underneath them.
And to top it all off, we’ve seen neither tail nor hide from the federal government. Local governments are calling on out-of-state emergency rescue teams, linemen, first responders, those who have private helicopters and literally anyone else to come to their aid. The most the American people have heard from our government officials has been brief, insincere platitudes from Kamala Harris who blamed Trump for the hurricane (because of his climate policies, of course). We haven’t heard even a peep from our supposedly sitting president Biden, who is apparently lounging by the beach in Delaware. No press conferences, no plan for action, no resources for first responders or the families who are trapped without food, clean water, shelter, medical care, NOTHING. These people have been totally abandoned.
Do not look away. Spread the word and take action if you have the means, because it seems everyone else has forgotten these people including those elected to protect them.