Hurricane Helena devastation in NC!

[J Grant]

The water in the air​

Helene formed above unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. As that water evaporated, it gave the storm the fuel it needed to rapidly intensify into a Category 4 hurricane and evolve into one of the widest cyclones to ever hit the United States.

“Water vapor is weather fuel, and it's controlled by the sea surface temperature,” Lackmann said. “So when you have record warm sea surface temperatures, you have record amounts of weather fuel.”

Sept. 26, 2 p.m.
Replay
A map key for the following map of satellite water vapor imagery


500 MILES
Climate change makes the freakishly hot conditions that fueled Helene’s growth more common.

“We won’t know the full estimated contributions from climate change until more thorough analysis is done. But this is a pattern we’re seeing around the world. Extreme rainfall events are becoming more common,” said Baker Perry, a professor of climatology at the University of Nevada at Reno, who previously taught at Appalachian State University.

The rain before the storm​

Two days before Helene made landfall, record-setting rains were already starting to soak the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. A zone of low pressure along a front pulled water vapor up from the Gulf of Mexico into the mountains, where it quickly rose, condensed into storm clouds, and dumped heavy rain.




Those earlier rains “guaranteed that a lot of the water that came with Helene was not going to have anything to soak into, and so it was all going to be running down the surface to the nearest low-lying area and then just collect,” said Douglas Miller, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

They also created a wet, swampy environment that allowed Helene to cling to the last of its strength as it moved deep inland. Hurricanes weaken when they move over dry land — but the water vapor rising off the soaked ground in Helene’s path extended the storm’s life. “It’s slowing its demise,” Perry said. “It’s not strengthening, but it’s weakening slower than it otherwise would be.”

 

[Zoe]

The water in the air​

Helene formed above unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. As that water evaporated, it gave the storm the fuel it needed to rapidly intensify into a Category 4 hurricane and evolve into one of the widest cyclones to ever hit the United States.

“Water vapor is weather fuel, and it's controlled by the sea surface temperature,” Lackmann said. “So when you have record warm sea surface temperatures, you have record amounts of weather fuel.”

Sept. 26, 2 p.m.
Replay
A map key for the following map of satellite water vapor imagery


500 MILES
Climate change makes the freakishly hot conditions that fueled Helene’s growth more common.

“We won’t know the full estimated contributions from climate change until more thorough analysis is done. But this is a pattern we’re seeing around the world. Extreme rainfall events are becoming more common,” said Baker Perry, a professor of climatology at the University of Nevada at Reno, who previously taught at Appalachian State University.

The rain before the storm​

Two days before Helene made landfall, record-setting rains were already starting to soak the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. A zone of low pressure along a front pulled water vapor up from the Gulf of Mexico into the mountains, where it quickly rose, condensed into storm clouds, and dumped heavy rain.




Those earlier rains “guaranteed that a lot of the water that came with Helene was not going to have anything to soak into, and so it was all going to be running down the surface to the nearest low-lying area and then just collect,” said Douglas Miller, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

They also created a wet, swampy environment that allowed Helene to cling to the last of its strength as it moved deep inland. Hurricanes weaken when they move over dry land — but the water vapor rising off the soaked ground in Helene’s path extended the storm’s life. “It’s slowing its demise,” Perry said. “It’s not strengthening, but it’s weakening slower than it otherwise would be.”

With information like that both the States and local teams could have moved in door to door and said you can't stay here. We have a bus right here or you can drive yourself. But you need to leave immediately. Grab what you need and drive N, W, etc? We have a good track on this thing now.

 

[Zoe]

Then you get into medical conditions. I am on dialysis or something else and can't drive. Okay, get on this bus, we will get you to a safe place. Grab what you need.

 

[Zoe]

I think another one is brewing that may hit central and lower Florida right now. It may just be heavy rain on this one. They don't know yet. This one may just be considered a tropical storm. Hopefully it don't develop.

 

[Carnivore]

This Guy is Cool encouraging people on how to help hurricane victims

Terrence K Williams

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[Zoe]

This is the source I go to on weather related issues. If you have never been there........try it.

It is called the National Weather Service

It is pretty awesome interactive weather source.

You can click on the map or type in location and get the latest weather news:

National Weather Service

This is where all the local weather experts on TV get their information from.

It has many links that give very detailed information.

It will even give you narrative explanations from experts that use terms I don't understand.

It updates pretty frequently.

 

[J Grant]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed more than a thousand personnel and millions of meals and liters of water to the communities hard hit by Helene, but is struggling to reach some communities deep in mountainous and remote areas of North Carolina that were most affected by the storm.



FEMA has deployed more than 1,500 personnel to respond to Helene. As of Friday, the agency had shipped more than 11.5 million meals, more than 12.6 million liters of water, more than 400,000 tarps and 150 generators to the affected region. The agency sent a similar number of personnel — roughly 2,000 — to Florida and the Southeast a week after Hurricane Ian struck there in 2022, according to a news release.
About 6,700 National Guard members from 16 states were involved in relief operations as of Thursday, said Maj. Gen. Win Burkett, director of domestic operations and force development for the National Guard Bureau, along with roughly 1,000 active-duty troops.




But the sheer scope of the disaster area, which stretches across six states in the Southeast, has presented an enormous logistical challenge. And as federal officials help state and local agencies respond, they are battling significant misinformation — only underlining and adding to the challenges of the mission that has no immediate end in sight. As of Friday, at least 221 people have died in six states as a result of the storm.
Several Republican governors and senators from storm-battered states that could prove pivotal in the 2024 election have praised FEMA’s response. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Friday offered a robust defense of the federal recovery efforts so far.
“I’m actually impressed with how much attention was paid to a region that wasn’t likely to have experienced the impact that they did,” Tillis told reporters, adding, “I’m out here to say that we’re doing a good job, and those who may not be on the ground, who are making those assessments, ought to get on the ground.”



But some residents of western North Carolina have lamented that federal assistance has not yet reached them.
“Nobody has come for us,” said Josh Paul, founder and president of Anchor Ridge, a western North Carolina-based nonprofit supporting families across Appalachia. “Of course it takes a long time for the government to respond, but not a lot of people have heard from them.”
FEMA is at the center of a number of debates about the administration’s ability to respond to the crisis — fueled in part by the agency’s comments but also by mischaracterizations or incorrect information repeated on social media about the agency’s response.
Politicians and others have spread false information about the response to the storm on social media. For example, some have claimed that the agency has run out of disaster response money and that storm victims can only receive $750 in federal assistance.

 

[Zoe]

There was enough information available to let all those people know in the path of that monster. It was like 400 miles wide and they had the track pretty much nailed down within 24 -48 hours.

I hate it the lost didn't get out.

 

[Zoe]

We got 2-3 inches. We were way further than 400 miles from the center of Helene.

 

[Carnivore]

Florida is going to get pounded from another storm.

Tropical Depression 14 forms in Gulf, eyes Florida ahead of rapidly intensifying into Hurricane Milton

An alarming change in the forecast now shows the potential for a dangerous future-Hurricane Milton to strike the west coast of Florida later this week with damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge and torrential rain.

www.foxweather.com