Hurricane Helene Flood September 25-27th, 2024

A posthumous note from the Catalpa Trees along the French Broad River, in the River Arts District of Asheville, North Carolina

Yes, we’ve been battered before, over many generations, but never with such relentless fury. Helene was refreshing at start, even lovely. The downpour began with brilliant flashes of red and gold, the blues and hues of sky light we had never seen the likes of before. Inside the force of her beauty and rage, we held our ground. The torrent swirled again and again to re-align in violent ferocity; our branches strangled against the force, and our broad leaves leapt and tumbled like brilliant Furies, goddesses of vengeance who clamored for repentance. We had no choice but to adapt to the wind—bloodguilt now, as our roots yielded and toppled against its rage.

We are the Catalpas along the French Broad River.  We are the bystanders, who might have survived that day, but once the tidal bore subsided, bits of our crowns, shredded bark, branches, trunks, roots, the entire canopies—enormous things—began to submerge. We were torn free in the last hours of the Fury called Helene, when we finally gave way.

At the river now, there’s only emptiness frozen in time; the earth is covered in scum and grit. Onlookers stand speechless, not able to imagine it as it was before. They try to remember lazy summer afternoons with friends, who filled one another with a sense of belonging.

Jean Cassidy

Asheville, Western North Carolina

March, 2025

Fallout from Helene, by the numbers   September 25-27, 2024

* Her high winds and flooding killed more than 230 people, as well as the loss or severe damage of 100,000 homes.

* 1.5 times more moisture was transported to Western North Carolina than in any prior recorded event in the region.

* Mount Mitchell weather station recorded 24.41 in (620 mm) of rainfall. The office referred to the total as “off the charts”.

* Asheville Regional Airport recorded 19.38 in. (492 mm) of rainfall before losing communication. The North Carolina Forest Service weather station recorded receiving 31.33 in. (796 mm) of rain from September 25 to 27.

* Readings from weather stations in Greenville-Spartanburg recorded 30.78 in. of rainfall in Busick, North Carolina

* Fairview in Buncombe County suffered severe damage, with the Garren Creek area deemed “completely devastated”. One resident was forced to grab onto a pole to survive rapid flood waters, while two women were carried by floodwaters in their house until it crashed in a forest.

* Damage included cars that had been lifted to the tops of trees by the elevated floodwaters, as well as thick mud burying businesses that were then deposited far downstream.