09/29/2024
Greetings from Charlotte, NC, the city of trees. As I sit on my back deck I hear chainsaw, wood chippers and blowers still clearing downed trees from people’s houses, yards, sidewalks, and streets. Hurricane 🌀 Helene passed by with glancing blow here in Charlotte. We had winds of 37-57 mph with the highest gusts of 104mph in the Mountains. We received 2-4 inches of rain overnight here and in the mountains they received close to 12” of rain. Early in the week the Mountains of NC received 3-4” of rain from a Frontal system that came in from the West saturating the ground Before the Hurricane arrived.
There is a lot to clean up from the hundreds of trees throughout our neighborhood along with a few trees that came down in other peoples yards.
The mountain communities got hit very hard. As of today there are 415 road closures in Western North Carolina, and major highways like Highway 74, Interstate 26 and 40 are closed due to sections of roadway washed away. Dozens of bridges are completely gone and will take a long time to replace.
In the college town of Boone, NC for Appalachia State University, the entire area was covered with water and silt and the smaller tourist town of Chimney Rock was completely washed away as two large rivers flooded. The town ceases to exist today!
The loss of businesses and jobs will have a significant impact upon the people for years to come.
Tennessee has major flooding coming down from the Appalachia Mountains of North Carolina where the storm stalled and just got dumped on. There was loads of water, debris and mud which flooded Eastern Tennessee leaving behind a waterline on homes at 5-7’ deep.
I don’t have any idea of how bad the effects were in Florida, Georgia or South Carolina? I imagine all told this storm system has impacted millions of people and will change the course of millions of lives.
Just think how intense it was back when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights? Unfortunately I don’t have an ark, so I’ll have to do with what I do have,
🙏 Prayer. I have a lot to be grateful for. We came through this with minor inconveniences, others were not so fortunate.
Many, many, many people are hurting worldwide which are far away from me but when events like this storm happens and you see it first hand, it makes one pause and reflect on our place in the universe.
Truly each day is a gift, something to embrace and share with others for it all change in a moment.
May God shine bright in the lives of so many people who are affected by these events 🙏
Looking at the News on YouTube it reminded me of the massive devastation of Mt. Saint Helens, WA after the volcano erupted.
It’s going to take years for both NC and Tennessee to recover if ever in some areas.
So take your pick: Earthquakes, Snowstorms, and Wildfires out West or Tornadoes and Range Fires in the Midwest or Hurricanes 🌀, Tornadoes, and Floods in the East?
