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Hurricane Helene devastates western North Carolina (Updated)
Things are unimaginably bad in western North Carolina & far eastern Tennessee right now. Whole towns have been swallowed by landslides, mudslides and floods. That's Chimney Rock, NC, below; photos taken from same location after/before the storm.
Interstate 40 is impassible at the Tennessee/North Carolina border, due to the eastbound lanes being washed into the Pigeon River. (See above photo.) Essentially all roads are closed in the region. 400,000+ customers are reported without power, and cell towers are damaged or down, so nobody can reach anyone, and we don't know the full scale of the damage yet.
Shared by North Carolina's Weather Authority page on Fb 9/28:
“I’m sorry to text so early. Our friend, Steve, Black Mountains Police Chief, got home this morning to get some rest and then he’s headed back to Black Mountain. He’s been up for 72 hours evacuating and rescuing. It’s catastrophic in that area. Montreat and Swannanoa are gone. Neighborhoods are gone from flooding or mudslides. They’re having to leave bodies behind, houses are on fire. There’s no communication so people that need to be rescued can’t call for help so they have no idea where to look. The flood current is so strong and they weren’t able to save some people that were in their cars. No one even knows this is going on right now because of having no communication. We’ve been watching the news since we woke up this morning and it hasn’t even been mentioned. So many prayers are needed. My heart is so heavy.”
Area news & info:
North Carolina's Weather Authority (Facebook)
NC Emergency Management Facebook page
Asheville Citizen-Times
Brad Panovich (Chief Meteorologist, WCNC Charlotte, Twitter)
Donations:
(Updated 9/28/24 at 8:20pm Eastern)
Blue Ridge Public Radio has a list of ways to help.
The American Red Cross
They've opened at least 15 shelters, and are the best positioned organization to help the entire region. Make a donation (money or blood, or volunteer) if you can, and please reblog this post.