People ask how could this hurricane happen in Western North Carolina. 🧵
The explanation is simple but deserves detail.
Simply put, gravity caused this.
More context:
Mount Mitchell is the highest mountain in the eastern United States. The elevation is 6,684 feet.
The North Fork Reservoir is the gathering point of water from the rain off Mt Mitchell and the other higher elevation mountains to Asheville, Black Mountain, surrounding areas in North Carolina and even parts of Tennessee. It is surrounded by Pisgah National Forest.
The North Fork Reservoir sits at an elevation of 4266.
That’s roughly a 2400 foot elevation change.
Roughly 30 inches of rain hit during Hurricane Helene. The reservoir was already at capacity when the storm it. This caused an overflow with gravity as its driving force.
The devastation that took place in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock are a direct result of gravity and force.
The elevation at Lake Lure/Chimney Rock is roughly 1119 feet. The drastic push of overflowing water traveling 3100 feet in a downward elevation change just from the North Fork Reservoir is significant and devastating. Remember, there was already a 2400 elevation change from Mt. Mitchell to the North Fork Reservoir.
When the water was forcibly push by gravity rapidly down the mountain and out of the North Fork Reservoir, the water went in two directions-towards Asheville and down Highway 9 which the majority of the most devastated areas in Buncombe County and surrounding counties. The water didn’t just take those two routes, it created routes and dropped off in other rivers to create momentum to already overflowing rivers in its path. Thus creating the multiple bridges and roads that have been eradicated by the force of gravity and water.
There was literally no place for the water to recede like people see in coastal communities.
A 5500 elevation change from the top of Mount Mitchell to the low lying areas below coupled with abnormal amounts of rain and wind, the momentum, gravity, and sheer force of the water is why this happened. Some areas where in the path due to their proximity to rivers and streams, others were roads that provided easy access for powerful water to flow through.
Hope that helps.
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