The western part of North Carolina received heavy rain Friday morning from Tropical Storm Helene.
Channel 9’s Jonathan Lowe visited Black Mountain, where the Swannaoa River was expected to cause even more dangerous flooding.
This comes after a low pressure system moved through Wednesday night into Thursday morning. This caused a flash flood that brought almost two inches of rain.
Tropical Storm Helene then moved straight in, bringing even more rain and flooding to the already damaged area.
Channel 9 crews observed a Swannaoa River flood that was moving quickly. This would have major consequences for low-lying areas.
Fast-moving water is very dangerous because it can sweep away cars. Residents are encouraged to avoid standing water, even if it does not appear deep.
Earlier
Western North Carolina is in a race Thursday evening to prepare for potentially historic and catastrophic flooding.
“If it’s as bad as they say it’s going to be, it could hit our ceiling here,” said Anna Rowley, store manager.
Managers at the Palm Village Lilly Pulitzer store in Asheville’s Biltmore Village are taking no chances Thursday evening.
“If it’s as bad as they say it’s going to be, it could hit our ceiling here,” said Anna Rowley, store manager.
Buncombe County officials warned residents that flooding from Hurricane Helene could rival that of Asheville’s 1916 flood, when multiple dams were breached and 80 people died.
Hurricane Helene is now in category 4. These are the consequences for the Carolinas.
“We just pack up all the product and take it to another location, higher up and on the third floor,” Rowley said.
Businesses and homes along low-lying areas near the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers have barricaded doors with plastic tarps and sandbags.
“There was a flash flood last night, and from what we understand, it should be worse than last night,” Rowley said.
Some parts of the area were impassable Wednesday night due to a storm unrelated to the hurricane.
“I’ve been here for two years and I haven’t seen this happen yet, so I’m a little worried about tomorrow,” said resident Liz Hauswirth.
Emergency management officials predict Hurricane Helene could affect at least 15,000 people in the area, who have been urged to self-evacuate.
“I have a new house,” Hauswirth said. “I just bought my house, so I’m like, I want to go into the crawl space and see what’s going on, but I’m lucky I’m uphill.”
The rivers are not even expected to peak until Friday night and Saturday morning.
In addition to the flooding threat, emergency officials predict the Asheville area could experience some of the highest tropical storm force winds.
