NEW YORK, OCT 2 – Warnings that Hurricane Helene would be a ‘once-in-100-year storm’ for the Appalachians mountain region in the United States (US) proved true as the disaster hit parts of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia, according to reports USA Todayyesterday.
According to the report, the disaster has claimed dozens of lives and hundreds more are reported missing. Thousands of homes and properties were destroyed, with damaged roads and losses estimated at tens of billions of dollars.
The devastating flood conditions in the western North Carolina mountains were affected by the extraordinary amount of rainfall before and during Hurricane Helene’s landfall, resulting in “the worst flooding on record,” North Carolina Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis said in a blog post cited by the newspaper.
Weather experts informed that the flood disaster was caused by an unfavorable combination of weather, hydrology, and geography.
Unprecedented downpours swept over an area of more than 200 miles, with water rushing from the mountaintops, turning mountain streams into raging torrents. The flood has inundated valleys, hit a hospital in East Tennessee and cut off entire communities in western North Carolina. – Xinhua
