North Carolina floods, tornadoes, and dam failures: Floods and flooding caused landslides in Wilmington and Mount Mitchell State Park

The station reported that floods and the persistent rains caused landslide conditions in western North Carolina. The projected precipitation for the region is around 6 to 12 inches, well above the threshold for the area.

The storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain in Wilmington and wrought serious damage to coastal homes and small buildings, as well as agricultural fields.

The raintotals in North Carolina on Friday were staggering: 29.56 inches for Busick, N.C., and 24.20 for Mount Mitchell State Park, which are both 55 miles away.

Atlanta has received its highest 48 hour rainfall on record over the past two days. The area has seen over 10 inches of rain in just the first few days of February, beating the previous record of 9.59 inches set in 1886. Records were kept in the beginning of the 19th century.

In North Carolina, the strongest winds observed since the start of meteorology recordkeeping in the 19th century were caused by Helene, with gusts up to 140 mph.

The death toll in Georgia was 15 according to a statement from the governor’s office. At least two children were among the dead, reported local CBS station 13WMAZ. Two Georgians died in Wheeler County after their trailer was picked up by a tornado, an emergency management official said.

Several deaths were blamed on the high winds and tornadoes. Gov. Ron DeSantis said one person died on a highway in Tampa from a falling sign. Another person died after a tree fell on their home in Dixie County.

In Tennessee, over 50 patients and staff were stuck on the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, as floodwaters rose on Friday morning. By the afternoon, they were finally rescued.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service released an urgent warning through Friday afternoon urging anyone below the Lake Lure Dam near Ashville to evacuate immediately to higher ground, after concerns that the nearly century-old dam could fail.

Brigadier General Daniel Hibner with the Army Corps of Engineers said dam failures are to be expected in flash flooding events like this one. “It’s not uncommon to see a dam failure in an event like this,” he said at a press briefing. “I would be surprised if there weren’t multiple (dam failures) throughout this area.”

Yet the dam remained intact as of Friday evening. In a 6 p.m. ET update on social media, Rutherford County officials said the lake’s water levels were beginning to recede.

The First-Law Hurricane Storm Since February 20, 2020: More Than 4 Million Florida Homes and Businesses without Power Supply During the Fourth Week of ‘Horizon Laura’

More than 4 million homes and businesses were without power on Friday afternoon in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to poweroutage.us. By nightfall, that number had dipped to about 3.7 million.

For those relying on generators for power supply, the consumer safety officials advised people to keep them at least 20 feet away from the home to avoid deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. Improper portable generator use led to more deaths associated with 2020’s Hurricane Laura than the storm itself.

The storm surge was over 5 feet along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Andrew Swan rode out the storm in Madeira Beach, where he was watching over a friend. He told us the water rushed into the house up to his chest, and that he spent the night sleeping on a kitchen counter.

While the worst of the storm is over for many in the Southeast, officials are warning residents to stay vigilant in its aftermath amid hazardous conditions, such as flooded and debris-strewn roads.

Preliminary post-landfall modeling showed the storm surge reached 15 feet above ground level in the Big Bend area near Keaton Beach, Steinhatchee and Horseshoe Beach, the National Weather Service said.

In an evening update from the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds were moving at 25 mph. The storm made its way across the Florida Panhandle to the state’s northwest on Thursday as a Category 4 Hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.

“The expected slow motion could result in significant flooding over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and over the southern Appalachians through the weekend,” the center said in a late morning update.

Life-threatening flooding and landslides in parts of southern Appalachia were expected to continue into the evening, the National Hurricane Center said.

Helene weakened to a post-tropical cyclone on Friday evening but continued to unleash “catastrophic” flooding in the southeastern U.S. and southern Appalachians, forecasters said.

The southern hurricanes have caused far-infrared property damage, and there’s plenty left, but no power at Florida’s coast

“To me, the biggest concerns around here are debris flows, which are very wet, very fast moving and can travel long distances,” Brad Johnson, who studies landslides and erosion at Davidson College, told NPR member station WUNC.

“I mean everybody is just kind of in shock and just trying to pick up the pieces. I mean nobody really expected it like this,” Swan said. As the waters rose, Swan said he slept on a kitchen counter with his legs draped over his stove.

In Florida, beaches along the coast near Tampa remained off limits as rescue and recovery operations continued. NPR member station WUSF reporter Stephanie Colombini spoke to some residents who ignored restrictions. Andrew Swan, who lives in a house near the beach, told Colombini he rode out the storm alone, with waters rising up to his chest.

The White House said it had approved emergency declaration requests from the governors of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, giving the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, authorization to provide emergency response assistance. Some 1,500 federal disaster response personnel had also been deployed to the region.

Moody’s Analytics said Friday it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage from the hurricane, which by late Friday had been downgraded to a tropical storm.

More than 3 million homes and businesses were without power in the southern part of the US, as rescue teams battled to save them from the destruction caused by Hurricane Helen.