40 trillion gallons

https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-heres-how-helene-and-other-storms-dumped-a-whopping-40-trillion-gallons-of-rain-on-the-south/amp/

Wild!

Would be nice if we had a way to capture more of this water to fill resevoirs.

Aggie Jurist said:

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40 trillion gallons

https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-heres-how-helene-and-other-storms-dumped-a-whopping-40-trillion-gallons-of-rain-on-the-south/amp/

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Holy crap... Looked it up trying to find a way to visualize that much water. Converts to over 36 cubic MILES of water.

So, what's the story on FEMA breaking cell service? How did they do that and is there any update on how it gets fixed?

agent-maroon said:

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Aggie Jurist said:

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40 trillion gallons

https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-heres-how-helene-and-other-storms-dumped-a-whopping-40-trillion-gallons-of-rain-on-the-south/amp/

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Holy crap... Looked it up trying to find a way to visualize that much water. Converts to over 36 cubic MILES of water.

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2 ft of water over 315 square mile area.

The absolut flotilla of private helicopters that's there is scooting them off the mountains. One of the pilots made the comment that the guard and .gov helps are there, but these little md500 sized birds are able to scoot in and land in people's yards, then take them to staging.

Devastation is unreal. Terrible

I went through the Eastern KY floods two years ago when we had over 40 people die. That was 17 inches from a random path of storms. I can imagine 30+ inches….

Side note, not sure how people are blaming others for not preparing. In the mountains nearly ever building is next to a creek or river, there is no where else to go.

Prayers.

Story on the private relief efforts by helicopter:

And then there's this:

That doesn't really surprise me. Air operations aren't like private boats in flooded neighborhoods.

Like he said, there's on way in and one way out and the visibility is poor. I'd like to presume the chief shut him down because there were other assets operating in the area or inbound. Those seats would be familiar flying together, they would know the capabilities and equipment their fellow pilots have on board. Pre planned procedures, and prior training.

Volunteer pilots in that situation can be a recipe for a mess.

Yeah. That's SOP. Chief could and should have done a better job communicating with the pilot as to what the issues were and not being a jerk.

One of my jobs during one particular deployment was to resolve a similar situation between a volunteer group (funded by family of some missing) and our team.

When the Cajun Navy was first getting rolling.....

Many in the professional USAR ranks were very against it. Simply because of the nightmares in the command and control structure. There were no shared communications. No shared command structure.

I found this fascinating. An almost identical scenario happened in 1916, and city leaders have been preparing for a century for it to happen again. I guess the area is historically prone to get wiped off the map by storms.

The comparisons are crazy. Severe weather events that are then followed by hurricane/tropical storms that roll through with 20-40 inches of rain. The rivers that go through Asheville apparently flood all the time, but residents believed that the crazy floods of the early 20th century would never happen again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/asheville-hurricane-helene-damage.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Independence H-D said:

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Yeah. That's SOP. Chief could and should have done a better job communicating with the pilot as to what the issues were and not being a jerk.

One of my jobs during one particular deployment was to resolve a similar situation between a volunteer group (funded by family of some missing) and our team.

When the Cajun Navy was first getting rolling.....

Many in the professional USAR ranks were very against it. Simply because of the nightmares in the command and control structure. There were no shared communications. No shared command structure.

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AANNNDD now with everything else going on, someone is having to actively scrub comments for the fire department social media accounts. Which could actually be an important communication tool in a situation like this.

No good deed goes unpunished.

When things get real bad sometimes the old technology comes in handy.


HAM RADIO:

There is little to no phone or electrical service in many sections of Western North Carolina.

If you can find a Ham radio operator that reaches the Mt. Mitchell repeater at 145.190 Mhz they can do wellness relays. You will need their full address.

You can also request a wellness check on the Charlotte NC K4ITL Memorial 145.350 Repeater FaceBook group. https://facebook.com/groups/w4htp/

source: @Woody_Grandpa on Twitter

#HurricaneHelene #fbviral

Wasn't it addressed up above that volunteer air flights can be dangerous and interfere with the actual SAR professionals?

MooreTrucker said:

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Wasn't it addressed up above that volunteer air flights can be dangerous and interfere with the actual SAR professionals?

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There are barely any professionals there in many of these areas. Their response has been incredibly slow. It would be one thing if they had sent all of Ft. Bragg but they didn't.

Nanomachines son said:

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First .gov group I've seen in my area since the storm came through. It's the ATF. pic.twitter.com/9SvciuTf8I

— PK Patchworks (@PKPatchworks) October 1, 2024

Why is the ATF there?

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Must be lots of stray pets in the area.

It does, but there are also desperate/bad people in it.

NC resident has a message: the government is not coming to save you, it’s up to all of us to help save each other.

I find this to be devastating because the amount of money our government God knows where for God knows what reason is obscene. But when it comes down to helping… pic.twitter.com/aNsJ5nzYgG

— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) October 1, 2024

BassCowboy33 said:

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I found this fascinating. An almost identical scenario happened in 1916, and city leaders have been preparing for a century for it to happen again. I guess the area is historically prone to get wiped off the map by storms.

The comparisons are crazy. Severe weather events that are then followed by hurricane/tropical storms that roll through with 20-40 inches of rain. The rivers that go through Asheville apparently flood all the time, but residents believed that the crazy floods of the early 20th century would never happen again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/asheville-hurricane-helene-damage.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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Same for Houston but millions of people still live there.

redcrayon said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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I found this fascinating. An almost identical scenario happened in 1916, and city leaders have been preparing for a century for it to happen again. I guess the area is historically prone to get wiped off the map by storms.

The comparisons are crazy. Severe weather events that are then followed by hurricane/tropical storms that roll through with 20-40 inches of rain. The rivers that go through Asheville apparently flood all the time, but residents believed that the crazy floods of the early 20th century would never happen again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/asheville-hurricane-helene-damage.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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Same for Houston but millions of people still live there.

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This is a dumb comment. The two areas are not similar in any way.

redcrayon said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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I found this fascinating. An almost identical scenario happened in 1916, and city leaders have been preparing for a century for it to happen again. I guess the area is historically prone to get wiped off the map by storms.

The comparisons are crazy. Severe weather events that are then followed by hurricane/tropical storms that roll through with 20-40 inches of rain. The rivers that go through Asheville apparently flood all the time, but residents believed that the crazy floods of the early 20th century would never happen again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/asheville-hurricane-helene-damage.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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Same for Houston but millions of people still live there.

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Not comparable at all. One is a mountain region and the other a coastal plain. Coastal plain flooding is nothing at all like a mountain flooding. It's slow or fast rising water in coastal plains where it's just water damage. Mountain flooding is flash flooding effectively a concrete wall moving at 9 feet per second or more. This force is enough to toss around cars and buildings like nothing. The only thing comparable to a mountain flash flood is a tsunami in terms of the sheer destructive forces it can employ.

This is why the devastation in that region is simply insane with piles of rubble everywhere from destroyed buildings and vehicles as well as roads being completely washed out and bridges gone. There are areas with 100 foot ravines where roads and houses used to be.

You cannot prepare for this.

AlaskanAg99 said:

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redcrayon said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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I found this fascinating. An almost identical scenario happened in 1916, and city leaders have been preparing for a century for it to happen again. I guess the area is historically prone to get wiped off the map by storms.

The comparisons are crazy. Severe weather events that are then followed by hurricane/tropical storms that roll through with 20-40 inches of rain. The rivers that go through Asheville apparently flood all the time, but residents believed that the crazy floods of the early 20th century would never happen again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/asheville-hurricane-helene-damage.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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Same for Houston but millions of people still live there.

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This is a dumb comment. The two areas are not similar in any way.

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People continually re-build in areas that are hit over and over by hurricanes, flooding, wild fires, etc. People just don't tend move due to weather or natural disasters. That was my point. Sorry it went over your head.

I'm in Texas. What are the best ways to help? Now and in the near future.

Someone from FEMA apparently told the cameraman that its going to take longer than 2 years to fix everything. Much longer.

— Paul (@WomanDefiner) October 1, 2024

This storm is almost guaranteed to have damage estimates nearing Harvey and Katrina levels. It's extremely widespread in Appalachia.

Привіт, містере Байден, це Зелінський, нам потрібно десять мільярдів доларів допомоги для української області Південна Кароліна, ми спустошені

— PK Patchworks (@PKPatchworks) October 1, 2024

lol I have seen a few of these from people who live there.

There is no free speech on this private site and you shouldn't expect it. Moderation is inconsistent and deletions and bannings happen for often unspoken reasons. It is what it is.

redcrayon said:

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AlaskanAg99 said:

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redcrayon said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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I found this fascinating. An almost identical scenario happened in 1916, and city leaders have been preparing for a century for it to happen again. I guess the area is historically prone to get wiped off the map by storms.

The comparisons are crazy. Severe weather events that are then followed by hurricane/tropical storms that roll through with 20-40 inches of rain. The rivers that go through Asheville apparently flood all the time, but residents believed that the crazy floods of the early 20th century would never happen again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/asheville-hurricane-helene-damage.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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Same for Houston but millions of people still live there.

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This is a dumb comment. The two areas are not similar in any way.

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People continually re-build in areas that are hit over and over by hurricanes, flooding, wild fires, etc. People just don't tend move due to weather or natural disasters. That was my point. Sorry it went over your head.

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And exactly where will millions of people move to in order to avoid natural disasters? You are right, people do rebuild. And current codes prevent people from rebuilding in areas generally excessively prone. Building codes can be made more stringent to be resilient but that also drives costs up.

90% of the world pulopulation lives withing ~21miles of water. If it's a coast, that's storms, if rivers that's flooding.

Quote:

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One of the groups assisting is the Mountain Mule Packers, who shared in an update on Facebook Monday, Sept. 30 they have "two fully loaded trucks and 20' stock trailers" along with their "mules and equipment" to make a staging area in nearby Weaverville, N.C.

Each of the pack animals can carry 200 pounds of supplies, volunteer Mark Toberer told the Associated Press. Toberer's dozen mules will bring food, water, diapers and supplies to hard-hit mountainous areas.

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LINK