In September and October two major hurricanes caused widespread displacement. The first was hurricane Helene which, according to ABC News, made landfall Sept. 26 after being tracked since Sept. 23. Helene’s path took from Florida’s gulf coast into Tennessee, going through Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, dying out Sept. 29. Helene damaged thousands of homes and communities, making it the third-deadliest U.S. storm in the 21st century, according to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management.
The following, hurricane Milton, hit just a few days later, starting on a similar path in the gulf and curving through Florida. According to WKRN, the ABC News affiliate in Nashville, two hurricanes hitting the same path this close together are unusual and have only been seen twice in recent years.
Helene was a Category 4 hurricane that left hundreds dead and hundreds still missing. Western North Carolina was deeply affected, struck with constant heavy rainfall and winds up to 106 mph. This caused a new flood record to be reached as the many rivers including the Pigeon River and Baby French Broad overflowed into cities and towns, according to the North Carolina State Climate Office. Asheville, N.C., was heavily affected, with the torrential rain causing massive flooding, destroying the water system and cutting out power for the city.
The University of North Carolina at Asheville is one of the colleges that suspended in-person classes due to the effects of the Helene. A few of McCallum’s 2024 graduates attend UNC-Asheville, including Adrian Recar and Stella Hufford.
Recar was in Austin post-hurricane, but returned back to Asheville on Nov. 2. He states that students and staff were unable to be on campus as there was no clean water or electricity, and cell service was lost. The campus has a higher elevation than the rest of the city, so the flooding on the campus was minimal; however, the impact of the storm was still great.
“We didn’t really know how bad it was, until after the storm,” Recar said.
With such short notice of the storm and the unexpectedness of the severity, Recar was unable to evacuate before the storm hit.
“Hurricanes rarely make it that far inland,” Recar said, “so by the time evacuation notices were sent out, it was really too late for most of us.”
Hufford made it out before the hurricane hit—just barely. She said that “If [my roommates and I] left an hour or two later, we would’ve been stuck. The highway we used to evacuate got destroyed by a mudslide later on.”
When the storm calmed down, Recar and his roommates walked the five miles to the library, hoping to get Wi-Fi. The city was completely changed.
“There were fallen trees everywhere, and they had fallen on people’s houses” Recar said. “There was so much traffic because everyone was trying to get out of Asheville. The river arts district, which is in a lower part of Asheville, was completely underwater, everything there is either gone or destroyed.”
Hufford is worried about the lively River Arts District and all the small artists who use it to showcase their work. Coming from McCallum, Hufford has always been passionate about the arts.
“The downtown that was once rich with lots of lively events from locals is now with a minimal amount of locals trying to regain their balance after the hurricane,” Hufford said.
Asheville is not the only city severely impacted. Places such as Chimney Rock, N.C., and Pinellas County, Fla., were just a few others that experienced similar effects.
McCallum English teacher Steven Jernigan grew up in North Carolina and went to school in Callowee, just west of Asheville. Jernigan said that this hurricane is completely out of the blue for North Carolina.
“It is crazy that the level of rain came up that close, that has just literally never happened,” Jernigan said. “That hurricane coming was unprecedented.”
Jernigan has lots of family and friends still in the area, who are all OK. When he saw the reports and images from the hurricane, Jernigan was shocked with sadness.
“That place was my home,” Jernigan said. “So I felt a connection with it.”
Shortly after Helene impacted these areas, Hurricane Milton hit the Gulf Coast of Florida. According to NASA, Milton began as a tropical storm around Oct. 7 before rapidly intensifying into a Category 5 hurricane. Milton, in comparison to Helene, reached a much higher peak wind speed of 180 mph. This caused evacuation notices to be issued for most of Florida’s Gulf Coast, Tampa, Naples, Fort Myers and more. Since experiencing the shock of Helene’s Category 4 just a few weeks prior, with many still recovering, the region seemed even more susceptible to massive hurricane damage.
Hufford said she was unprepared for the news of another hurricane hitting.
“I was scared hearing news about another hurricane forming, and mostly just hoping that the new damage would be minimal,” Hufford said.
Milton continued through Florida, releasing massive rainfall and even tornadoes. The New York Times reported that many homes and businesses were lost; at least 14 people were reported dead as of Oct. 10 and, even though this was not the worst-case scenario, millions of people lost power.
These two hurricanes hit so close together that the recovery time will be long. The Red Cross is accepting donations as well as many other organizations. The long-term impact of these storms will require ongoing support from both local and national resources as the communities work to rebuild.
