Hurricane Helene presented unique challenges due to its impact on North Carolina’s mountainous terrain, bringing torrential rain and strong winds that caused severe flooding and landslides. Approximately 577,000 people (20.2%) in the 27 disaster-declared counties had high social vulnerability, making recovery particularly difficult. Governor Roy Cooper described Helene as “the deadliest and most damaging storm ever to hit North Carolina,” emphasizing the unprecedented scale of destruction. The storm struck the Blue Ridge Mountains late at night, catching many residents off guard – they did not imagine that the weather warnings could possibly mean something this bad was coming. As people often act based on past experiences and major storms typically only affect coastal regions, not mountainous, many stayed put, unable to foresee Helene’s full impact. Overall, this Hurricane demonstrated how unexpected storm patterns and high social vulnerability can significantly complicate disaster response and recovery efforts.

Resources:
https://news.asu.edu/20241003-environment-and-sustainability-lessons-helene-asu-professors-explain-complexities-behind
https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcnews/navigating-devastation-gis-aids-hurricane-helene-response/
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/10/hurricane-helene.html