Landslides buried parts of North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. It’s too dangerous for some homeowners to rebuild.

Katelyn Midkiff and her father, Bill, were at their kitchen table when a thunderous noise gave way to chaos. On the morning of Sept. 27, their home was consumed by a landslide in the wake of Hurricane Helene. It was one of more than 2,000 landslides in western North Carolina.

“There was a loud sound behind us,” Katelyn Midkiff said. “Then it was like we were getting thrown and pulled at the same time.”

Mud and debris from the landslide trapped them for three hours. Bill, a liver transplant patient, sustained severe injuries, including a broken neck and fractured back. He had no access to his anti-rejection medication in the pile of destruction that once was his home and land.

“The dishwasher hit me in the face,” he said. “The refrigerator would have killed me, but it’s up against the tree right now.”

The mud and debris were so thick, their neighborhood was cut off from the rest of the region. Bill and his daughter were eventually rescued by a Blackhawk helicopter.

The hill their house had stood on for 30 years was cut away by the power of the storm. The land washed down the river.

Their house was crushed against the trees and rocks, landing far downhill from where it was just hours earlier.

As the family recovers, they have learned they should not rebuild. The threat of future landslides makes it too dangerous. 

The geologist’s perspective

Jennifer Bauer, a principal geologist with Appalachian Landslide Consultants, has been instrumental in mapping the landslides and assessing the risk of rebuilding. Bauer uses specialized maps to identify areas that glow in bright purple on her rugged laptop. 

These “purple zones” show areas where landslides, known in geology as “debris flows,” are likely to start. The zones make up 13.3% of the mountainous counties in western North Carolina, which adds up to approximately 1,296 square miles.

If all those areas were combined into one land mass, it would be nearly as large as the state of Rhode Island. This conclusion is based on advanced LiDAR scans taken from airplanes, satellite imagery and on-the-ground data, according to Bauer.

“It’s important for people to understand that there are lots of safe places to build and some that are not,” Bauer said as she toured impacted neighborhoods with CBS News.

The impact of climate change

Stronger and wetter storms driven by climate change are intensifying the severity and frequency of landslides.

“Since the 1980s, the hurricane record has shown a more active period in the North Atlantic Ocean,” according to NASA research. “On average, there have been more storms, stronger hurricanes, and an increase in hurricanes that rapidly intensify.”

Ed Williams, a retired water quality biologist, and his wife had hoped to build a home on their land in western North Carolina. They’re now changing their plans to build a smaller home on a different part of the property to ensure greater safety.

“The last time a storm like this even came close to this much rain was in 1916, over 100 years ago,” Williams said. “We know now with climate change that a lot more storms are coming in from the Gulf of Mexico that we haven’t seen in the past. So those storms from the Gulf tend to be the ones that dump a lot more rain up here.”

The economic and emotional toll

For many, the financial and emotional toll of these landslides is insurmountable. Many homeowners are hoping FEMA will assist in buying them out, but it’s too early to know how much financial assistance they can expect. Some told CBS News that FEMA buyouts, while helpful, often fall far short.

In November, the Midkiff family met again with FEMA at an abandoned retail store inside a mall in Asheville, North Carolina. They filled out paperwork to have FEMA pay them fully for the home and land, but they may have to wait a very long time before they see a check that large.

The Midkiffs, like many others, face the grim reality of abandoning their cherished homes. Often, this uncertainty leaves homeowners in limbo, unsure of where to safely rebuild.

“There are many homes below the purple zones that could be impacted by future landslides,” Bauer said.

Community resilience

Despite the devastation, the community is resilient.

“There’s something about seeing people come together, to work on rebuilding a place that means so much,” Williams said.

As recovery efforts continue, geologists like Bauer are working tirelessly to identify safe areas for rebuilding. Still, the scars left by the landslides are a reminder of the risks of living on land that keeps moving in big rainstorms.

The landslides of 2024 mark the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for the Midkiffs, Williams and others.

“I can’t really, can’t think of anywhere else that I’d want to live,” Williams said. “So, we’re going to figure out a way to do it. There’s a lot of great places out there, but this is home for us, and this is where we want to be.” 

Dave Malkoff

Dave Malkoff is a national correspondent with the CBS Local News Innovation Lab, where his work appears across all CBS News and Station platforms.