Image courtesy of Jim Alexander.
Over this past weekend, an extremely destructive category 4 hurricane swept through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. The more southern states have hurricane protections in place, but the ones further north, like North Carolina, don’t. Even with hurricane protection, the citizens in states like Florida still experienced an unusual level of damage.
Taya T. ‘27, says, “My cousin’s grandparents live in Florida, and their house has never flooded before, but it flooded because of [Hurricane Helene].”
This is a reality many have to live with not just in Florida, but throughout the southeast United States, Northeastern Mexico, and islands scattered throughout the Atlantic Ocean. According to NASA, hurricanes are getting stronger due to climate change, as warm water is a necessary factor for their development.
Ms. Emily Libbey also has a connection to Hurricane Helene: “I also have a friend, his mom and his step-dad live in North Carolina, and they actually lost all cell phone communication, and their town was close to Ashville, that’s been hit super hard, and so he didn’t have contact with his mom for a couple days, and he was really worried about her because he wasn’t sure if their house was under water or how they were doing.”
The brunt of the blow in the state came to Asheville, as Libbey mentioned earlier, because of their proximity to a fairly large river. Between the wind and rain, the river submerged the town to levels that surpassed the previously worst-documented flood in 1916.
Libbey also talks about how her own family has been impacted: “My Uncle and Aunt live in a town called Sun City in South Carolina, and they were hit by the storm during the weekend. When I talked to my Uncle on the phone, he was describing how it was the worst wind that he had ever seen in his life- he said that they had 70-mile-an-hour winds coming through their area.”
The severity of the hurricane is similar to that of the infamous Hurricane Katrina, with billions of dollars of damage, around 600 missing, according to the most recent reports, and over 230 found dead so far. Millions are still without power and thousands are without access to water. The effects are also being felt by wildlife and their habitats, with many trails and campsites closed in Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee, manatees stranded in Florida and other fauna left dead or injured in the storm’s wake.
Libbey adds, “They actually live right across a lagoon that has a crocodile in it, and they were all worried about how the crocodile would fare through the hurricane.”
Libbey says her family believes the crocodile is ok, and was able to hide from the storm somewhere under the water.
While many still wait to return home or see their loved ones after the event, another, stronger, storm is brewing. Only time will tell what the ocean has in store for those in the not-so-sunny south.