Report from WBTV – Charlotte NC.
Two years post Hurricane Helene, Bat Cave, North Carolina is still crippled from the climate fueled storm’s impacts.
Readers here will vividly remember how Hurricane Helene came ashore, moved hundreds of miles inland and exploded with flooding rains over the “climate haven” mountains of North Georgia and Western North Carolina. The steep hillsides and narrow river valleys turned out to be vulnerable death traps for people living in vulnerable areas.
Many losses were tragically predictable, but some of those affected lived in areas that had not previously flooded.
As recovery has progressed, some local communities are making the same mistakes, as residents economically crippled by the flood have moved to campers and mobile homes, the best shelter they can afford, in some of the most vulnerable areas.
Billions have been spent in recovery, but needed billions more may never come.
Communities like Bat Cave, as related above, have lost crucial tax base that funds critical services like Fire/Rescue, and face an economic death spiral even as road and infrastructure repairs continue.
Part of what made the storm so devastating to the region when it hit, 400 miles inland from where it made landfall, is that the Appalachian Mountains’ typically porous soils were already saturated by recent rainfall. The rainwater hit bedrock and raced down steep mountain slopes like water on a slide. It overran the banks of normally shallow creeks and rivers, carrying the earth above it. One in 4 of those who died from the storm in North Carolina did so because of mud and landslides.
Allowing people to continue to live in locations with severe and repeated flooding is one of several weaknesses reporters at ProPublica have identified while investigating deadly floods.
When it comes to updating floodplain maps, government agencies have prioritized coastal areas, as they often have large populations that can experience complex storm surges and sea level rise, said John Dorman, the retired director of North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program.
Many inland areas are still operating with their original flood maps from the 1970s or ’80s. In rural places that have experienced population growth and development since then, the maps don’t account for the way these places have changed. New homes, for example, take up valuable areas where floodwater is supposed to run, displacing water not unlike what happens when adding an ice cube to a glass of water.
Two years after Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, recovery is far from over.
The National Weather Service says Helene brought “historic and catastrophic flooding, landslides, and extreme winds” to the western Carolinas.
The storm caused widespread destruction and loss of life, and systems damaged by the storm have been restored, while more than 99% of the affected state was the deadliest U.S. tropical cyclone since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to the NWS.
According to Gov. Stein’s office, North Carolina has committed more than $3 billion to Helene recovery. More than 99% of drinking water systems damaged by the storm have been restored, while more than 99% of affected state roads have reopened.
But Stein says more federal help is needed.
His office is calling on Congress to provide $10 billion for additional recovery work, including damaged homes, businesses, roads, bridges and infrastructure.
“Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint,” the governor’s office said.
The hurricane downed a lot of trees that ended up in the Clinch and tributary streams, causing blockages that made it easier for it to flood the next time heavy rain inundates the region, Young said.
Just five months after Helene, in February 2025, Tazewell County officials faced severe flooding again, leading to a federal disaster declaration. Stream blockages from Helene made the situation much worse, he said.