NLocated in the idyllic Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, far from the coast, Asheville was touted as a climatic “refuge” from extreme weather. Today, this historic city is destroyed and cut off by Hurricane Helen’s devastating floods, a stunning demonstration of the endless reach of the climate crisis in the United States.
Helen, which slammed into the western Florida coast on Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane, brought a familiar dark carnage to a region of the state that has experienced three similar storms in the past 13 months, destroying homes along the coast. collapsed and boats were thrown inland.
But the storm, which reached speeds of up to 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour) cut a path north, destroying places in multiple states that had never experienced this kind of impact before, destroying small towns and leaving trees and homes unattended. and the unmoored houses rose up. Floods left millions without power and major roads turned into rivers.
A total of about 100 people have died in five states, with nearly a third of those deaths occurring in the county that includes Asheville. Asheville is a historic city that’s attracting new residents as real estate agents tout it as a “place of reprieve.” “Crazy” abnormal weather.
Today, the main highway into Asheville has been cut off by flooding from heavy rains, leaving the downtown area covered in mud and debris, with little access to cell phone reception, gasoline or food. Roads and water supplies are expected to be affected for several weeks. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper called this an “unprecedented tragedy.”
“This is unimaginable because everyone thought this was a safe place and a place they could move to long-term with their children. It’s devastating,” said a family member who grew up in the area. said climate activist Anna Jane Joyner, who still lives there. Located in Black Mountain near Asheville. Several of her friends narrowly escaped being washed away by the floodwaters.
“I never thought Asheville would be wiped out,” she said. “It was our backup plan to move there, so it’s ironic and scary and emotionally difficult for me to process. I’ve been in the climate movement for 20 years, I feel like I’m living in the movie I imagined in my head when I started. Nowhere is safe now.”
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said the damage caused by Helen was “a stunning and frightening reminder of how the climate crisis is fueling extreme weather events.” Hurricanes are fueled by ocean and atmospheric heat, with the largest hurricane ever recorded hurtling through the record-hot Gulf Coast, going from a Category 1 storm to a Category 4 storm in less than a day. It quickly turned into a storm.
The extra heat not only makes the storm spin faster, but it also holds more moisture in the atmosphere, which is released as torrents into areas like western North Carolina, dumping a month’s worth of rain in just a few days. Ta. Helen is the eighth Category 4 or 5 hurricane to hit the United States since 2017, which is the same number of such extreme storms that have hit the country in the past 57 years.
“This storm has the signatures of climate change all over it,” said North Carolina State Climatologist Kathy Dero. “The oceans were warmer, growing and growing, and there was a lot of water in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, our worst fears have come true. Helen has been made more intense by climate change and will continue to do so.” We should expect more storms like this.”
Delo said it will take months or years for poorer, rural communities in the state, especially those completely cut off by the storm, to recover, and to overcome the effects of previous storms like Florence in 2018. He said it made it worse. And Fred is asking the big question in 2021: if they rebuild, how?
“I don’t know where people are running to escape climate change. There is some risk everywhere,” she said. “It’s really very upsetting to see these places that you love fall into disrepair, knowing that they’ve been changed forever. They can’t be rebuilt like they were before.”
In Asheville, the Biltmore Village historic district was flooded and, in a dark irony, the nation’s main climate data center was taken offline.
A spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the storm was having a “devastating impact on the people of Asheville” and said the National Center for Environmental Information facility lost water and was closed.
“Even those who are physically safe typically lack power, water and connectivity,” a spokesperson said of efforts to contact stranded center staff.
The destruction may cast a shadow on Asheville’s reputation as a climate haven, just as the recent floods have prompted a reconsideration of Vermont’s apparent distance from the climate crisis. , probably won’t buck the broader trend of Americans flocking to Asheville. Some places are most at risk from heat waves, storms, and other climate impacts because housing and jobs are readily available.
“These floods are likely to accelerate development,” said Jesse Keenan, a climate adaptation expert at Tulane University, adding that for every person who moves from Asheville, three people move to the city. He pointed out that the rate is one of the highest in the world. us.
“Some people will not be willing or able to rebuild, and their real estate will be lost to wealthy people who can afford to build private infrastructure and buildings that are engineered to withstand flooding. It will be bought up by people.”
“No place is truly safe,” acknowledged Keenan, who previously cited Asheville as one of the best places to move during the climate crisis. But the city “will experience a post-disaster boom,” he said. “This is a cycle that has repeated itself over and over again in America.”
