Hurricane Helene

• 1. A Storm Two Regions Remember

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  Hurricane Helene killed at least 252 people in the Southeastern United States in late September 2024 and caused an estimated $78.7 billion in damage. It came ashore on Florida's Gulf coast, yet many of its victims died in mountain valleys far from any beach. On the mainland, only Katrina in 2005 has taken more lives in the past fifty years. Among all Atlantic hurricanes, only Maria in 2017 has been deadlier since. Helene also ranks as the fifth costliest hurricane in United States history.

  This documentary follows the questions that storm leaves behind. How did a Caribbean disturbance turn into a Category 4 hurricane within days? Why did the worst flooding hit towns that had survived earlier storms and never feared their rivers? What happened to the hospitals, farms and power lines in its path? And once the water went down, why did a natural disaster become an argument?

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• 2. Birth Over Warm Water

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  On the 17th of September 2024, the National Hurricane Center pointed to the western Caribbean Sea as a place where a tropical cyclone might form. Two ingredients met there. One was the Central American gyre, a broad monsoon low-pressure system. The other was the Madden-Julian oscillation, which reinforced a huge swirl of air stretching from the eastern Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean. On the 22nd of September a broad low formed, and its showers and thunderstorms slowly drew together. Because it threatened land, forecasters labeled it Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine on the 23rd.

  The next day, Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft and satellite data showed that a low-level center had formed by 12:00 UTC. The Hurricane Center upgraded the system to Tropical Storm Helene, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. By 12:00 UTC on the 25th of September it was a hurricane, entering the Gulf of Mexico and turning north. An upper-level trough to its west and a ridge of high pressure off the Southeastern coast steered it toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. Helene was the eighth named storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season. Forecasters also noted its size. In several discussions, they said its forecast wind radii were "at the 90th percentile of hurricane size at similar latitudes".

  Strength arrived in a rush on the morning of the 26th of September. Before that the storm had held steady for a while, slowed by its sheer breadth and some drier air drawn in from the west. Then low wind shear, high humidity and sea surface temperatures above 30 C near the Loop Current all favored growth. An eye took shape. Helene reached Category 2 at 12:00 UTC and Category 3 at 18:00 UTC, with sustained winds of 120 mph. At 00:00 UTC on the 27th it peaked at 140 mph (220 km/h) with a minimum pressure of 939 mbar. Landfall came at 3:10 UTC, about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida. No hurricane had struck Florida's Big Bend region harder since records began in 1900.

  At 5:00 UTC, shortly after the center crossed into Georgia, Helene had already dropped to Category 2. By 9:00 UTC it was a tropical storm over east central Georgia. At 18:00 UTC it became a post-tropical cyclone over southern Kentucky, losing its deep thunderstorms as it merged with a cut-off low to the west. Its remnants then made a slow looping turn and faded over north-central Tennessee. Long before that, people along its path had been deciding whether to leave.

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• 3. Warnings and Closures

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  On the 24th of September 2024, tropical storm warnings went up for the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, and parts of Quintana Roo moved from a blue alert to a red alert, the maximum level of danger. Cruise ship arrivals were canceled, the Tren Maya train was closed, and visitors to Isla Holbox were offered a free ferry off the island. In the Cayman Islands, the Red Cross shelter opened, but nobody used it. Cuba closed schools and ports and called in fishing boats from the water.

  On the 23rd of September, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 41 of Florida's 67 counties. The next day he widened it to 61, and President Joe Biden approved a federal disaster declaration for the same 61. Wakulla County ordered every resident and visitor to evacuate. Yet two Wakulla County prisons holding a combined 2,500 inmates were not evacuated, despite the order given to residents. On the evening of the 26th, an extreme wind warning covered the eastern Panhandle, the first such warning since Hurricane Idalia.

  The storm also rearranged the calendar. The SpaceX Crew-9 launch from Cape Canaveral, planned for the 26th of September, slipped to the 28th. Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party was canceled, and Halloween Horror Nights went the same way. A football game between Florida A&M and Alabama A&M was pushed to the 29th of November. In Georgia, the Atlanta Braves postponed two games against the New York Mets into a doubleheader on the 30th of September, and JD Vance canceled campaign stops in Macon and Flowery Branch.

  One error crept into the warning system. The National Weather Service office in Peachtree City accidentally issued a hurricane warning for Jackson County, Georgia, when it meant a tropical storm warning. Governor Brian Kemp had declared a state of emergency on the 24th, and Governor Henry McMaster did the same for South Carolina a day later.

  A 2023 FEMA National Household Survey had found that 84% of Florida residents thought a major weather event was likely. The same survey found that only about 47% believed they could stay home through one.

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• 4. Surge and Wind

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  In the Cancun area, 240 mm of rain fell as Helene's early stages passed, and more than 120,000 customers lost power in Quintana Roo, about 14% of the utility's customers. Isla Mujeres flooded across much of the island, with gusts up to 69 mph, and surf broke the seawall at Cozumel. A gas explosion in Cancun caused no deaths, and Mexico reported no fatalities from the storm. In the Cayman Islands, more than 10 inches of rain flooded roads in George Town. In Cuba, Presa Herradura recorded 218.4 mm, and 17 of the 24 reservoirs in Pinar del Rio Province overflowed. Honduras saw the Goascoran River flood low-lying communities, and 120 families were affected in the coastal town of Marcovia.

  In Florida, water at Tampa reached 7.18 feet above ground, while parts of the Big Bend were inundated by more than 16 feet. In Citrus County, rescuers pulled out more than 100 people and 50 pets after ten feet of surge struck. Pasco County's sheriff's office rescued around 200 people. Across the Tampa Bay area, more than 1,000 people needed rescue. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties together reported at least 419 homes destroyed and major damage to at least 18,512 structures.

  Florida recorded 34 deaths. At least twelve were in Pinellas County, where ten people drowned and one died in an electrical fire that began when water rushed into a house. In Tampa, a sign fell onto a car on I-4, and an elderly woman drowned inside her home. In Dixie County, a falling tree killed one person. About 1.69 million Florida customers lost power, and rainfall peaked at 14.39 inches in Liberty County.

  Florida's toll was the smallest of the big four states. The heaviest loss of life was still to come, in the mountains of the Carolinas.

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• 5. When Mountains Drowned

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  At Busick, North Carolina, rainfall totaled 30.78 inches. As Helene climbed into the Southern Appalachians, the Blue Ridge and the Black Mountains forced the moist air upward. Rainfall surged there, along with cooling, condensation and precipitation. Before Helene, Hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne had together dropped 20 inches of rain on the state. Helene's flooding rivaled those storms and in places exceeded them.

  In Asheville, two days of rain totaled 9.87 inches, a record. The French Broad River crested at 24.67 feet and the Swannanoa River at 26.1 feet, both above the marks set in the flood of 1916. Biltmore Village and the River Arts District were nearly entirely underwater. Landslides collapsed or washed away sections of I-26 and I-40, and the city was isolated by lost power and cell service. A curfew was imposed, and police reported arrests for looting.

  Over 19 inches of rain fell upstream of Chimney Rock, and the floodwaters destroyed half the village. In Swannanoa, residents said that no search and rescue teams had reached them as of the 29th of September, leaving some without food or safe water. The dam at Lake Lure overtopped, and residents downstream were told to evacuate. A later inspection found no imminent failure, but it did find erosion at both ends and damage to its structural supports. More than 400 roads closed in the west of the state, and over 200 people were rescued from floodwater.

  Early counts attributed as many as 115 deaths and more than 200 missing people to Helene in North Carolina. The figure was revised to 103 after officials found double-counting and mis-allocation in Buncombe County. Buncombe County still accounted for 43 deaths. The state's damage and recovery needs reached a record $59.6 billion. The storm and its aftermath damaged more than 160 water and sewer systems, at least 6,000 miles of roads, more than 1,000 bridges and culverts, and about 126,000 homes. Some 220,000 households were expected to seek federal assistance.

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• 6. Beyond the Mountains

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  On the night of the 26th of September 2024, the National Weather Service issued the first flash flood emergency in Atlanta's history. The city had its heaviest three-day rainfall in 104 years, and 11.12 inches fell in 48 hours, the most since record keeping began in 1878. About 25 people were rescued. Peachtree Creek overflowed in Buckhead and flooded several apartment complexes. Helene had entered Georgia as a strong Category 2 hurricane with winds near 110 mph, and the state lost at least $5.5 billion in timber and agriculture. Thirty-seven people died there, including two killed when an EF1 tornado overturned a mobile home in Wheeler County.

  Georgia's poultry farms took a particular beating. Helene damaged or destroyed 107 poultry facilities, and officials worried about manure runoff reaching streams and groundwater. In South Carolina, one factory farm lost 45,000 chickens after a power failure. South Carolina counted 50 deaths, of which 26 were direct and 23 indirect. More than 1.3 million customers lost power there, the most of any state, and the storm spawned 21 weak tornadoes.

  On the 28th of September, Clemson University hosted its homecoming football game against Stanford before 80,295 fans. The surrounding area was dealing with widespread outages and gas shortages. Tailgaters strained scarce supplies of fuel, hot food and ice, and the university drew online criticism. It later opened powered buildings to the community with free food, drinks, charging stations and showers. Many critics said it should have done so sooner.

  In Erwin, Tennessee, helicopter crews rescued 58 people from Unicoi County Hospital after floodwater almost completely submerged it. Bridges carrying I-26 over the Nolichucky River were washed away. The Tennessee Valley Authority issued a Condition Red alert for the Nolichucky Dam, then lowered concern when water levels dropped. Six workers at the Impact Plastics plant in Erwin were among the missing and dead. A survivor and relatives said workers were not told they could leave until water had covered the road. The company said no one was threatened with firing for leaving, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation found no criminal wrongdoing. In Virginia, the New River crested at 31.03 feet at Radford, behind only the 35.96 feet of the 14th of August 1940.

  Farther west, the rain was a gift. West Virginia's drought, which had lasted since August, eased. In the Northeast, the storm's last light rain was the final measured precipitation in places until November. Philadelphia then recorded a record-long streak without rain.

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• 7. Relief and Ripple Effects

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  A Baxter International plant in Marion, North Carolina, produced 60% of the nation's sterile intravenous and kidney dialysis fluids, and floodwater closed it. Hospitals across the country began rationing IV fluids. Shortages of those fluids continued through the end of 2024. Flooding also hit homes and wells. Researchers in North Carolina combined 24 datasets to map flooded areas with heavy infrastructure damage. The map identified 19,600 wells, 34,300 businesses and 150 community facilities affected.

  Crews from far away reached the mountains by whatever means they had. T&T Line Construction of Hornwell, New Brunswick, sent 11 line crews to western North Carolina. A crew leader said of the cross-border help, "Companies from the US aid us in storms; it's a mutual thing." Duke Energy flew in power poles by helicopter and set them in the ground in Henderson County. Two line workers hiked 1.5 miles over rough ground to restore power to the Asheville Veterans' Administration Medical Center. Pack mules carried supplies where nothing else could go, and California sent 151 search and rescue members.

  By the 1st of October, the White House said FEMA had distributed 6.5 million liters of water and 7.1 million meals. FEMA also sent Starlink terminals, and SpaceX said it donated about 500 more through various channels. World Central Kitchen provided more than 64,000 meals. Money came from many directions. The National Football League and four teams gave $8 million. Dolly Parton pledged $2 million, and Taylor Swift gave $5 million to Feeding America for Helene and Milton. The Carolina Hurricanes gave their ticket revenue of $235,000 from an October 2 game, and an auction pushed their total above $300,000.

  The skies above western North Carolina grew crowded. Air traffic there rose an estimated 300%, and about 30 mid-air close calls were reported on the 28th of September alone. One supply-drop plane failed to lower its landing gear at Hickory Regional Airport and closed the runway. Another plane caught fire. Authorities responded with drone restrictions, temporary airspace coordination areas and temporary air traffic control towers.

  Then Hurricane Milton arrived. On the 5th of October, DeSantis ordered debris sites to stay open around the clock and raised the number of Florida National Guardsmen working on debris from 800 to 4,000. Milton made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane on the 9th of October and dropped 16 inches of rain on Hillsborough County, slowing Helene's cleanup. Cases of Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium that thrives in warm water and flood conditions, climbed in Florida from six before Helene to 24 by the end of September. By the 18th of October there were 38 confirmed cases statewide, equal to the whole year's total before the hurricanes.

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• 8. Blame and Rumor

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  On the 9th of October 2024, researchers at World Weather Attribution concluded with "high confidence" that climate change had made Helene worse. They found that a temperature increase of 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.3 C) raised the storm's rainfall by 10% and its maximum wind speed by 11%, or 13.6 mph. Imperial College London researchers attributed 44% of Florida's loss to climate change. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists found that rainfall rose by more than 50% in some parts of Georgia and North Carolina.

  The argument over the response began almost at once. Donald Trump and other Republicans criticized Biden for spending a weekend at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, rather than at the White House. Biden said he was directing the response by phone. Asked whether climate change was to blame, he answered: "Absolutely, positively, unequivocally, yes, yes, yes, yes." On the 30th of September, Trump went to Valdosta, Georgia, and said Kemp was having trouble reaching Biden. Kemp said he had missed Biden's call, returned it, and told him the state had what it needed because FEMA had been embedded since a day or two before landfall.

  False claims spread quickly. Trump accused the administration of spending disaster funds on migrants, and FEMA said it holds separate Congress-approved funds for each. North Carolina's lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, claimed Biden had said there were "no more supplies" for storm victims. The video clip he was later asked to back it with showed Biden answering a question about additional supplies by saying resources had been pre-planned. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted that "Yes they can control the weather," and the source notes that the precise meaning of her statement has not been confirmed. On the 4th of October, Elon Musk claimed on X that FEMA was blocking Starlink deliveries and the airspace had been shut down. Pete Buttigieg replied that the FAA does not block legitimate rescue flights, and Musk later said they had talked and the issue was resolved.

  The tension turned dangerous in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Online posts with antisemitic rhetoric threatened FEMA officials, and federal aid workers briefly paused or moved their work. A 44-year-old man was arrested after being found with a handgun and a rifle at a supermarket serving as a relief site.

  On the 2nd of October, House Speaker Mike Johnson said lawmakers would not return early from recess. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned that the relief effort would use most of FEMA's funding for the year. On the 7th of October, North Carolina's elections board unanimously passed an emergency resolution easing voting rules in the 13 hardest-hit counties. Between November 2024 and March 2025, Congress held four televised investigative hearings on the federal response to Helene and Milton.

  When Trump visited Fletcher, North Carolina, on the 24th of January 2025, he said he planned an executive order to overhaul FEMA or perhaps eliminate it, and suggested states manage disasters themselves. On the 2nd of April 2025, the World Meteorological Organization retired the name Helene at its RA IV Hurricane Committee session. Holly will replace it on the list, and is scheduled for use in the 2030 season.

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