The History And Legacy Of Hurricane Helene

On the night of Sept. 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene dropped a historic wall of rain on the southern Appalachian mountains.

Some 31 inches of water fell in three days. The Swannanoa River rose 27 feet. Roads, bridges, and entire communities – very little was left in the storm’s aftermath.

More than 250 people died across the Southeast. More than a hundred of them in North Carolina alone. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States since Katrina.

We check in on how much western North Carolina has rebuilt in the nearly two years since the storm. And how far it still has to go.

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