Hurricane Helene Hammers Northeast Tennessee

By Lorelei Goff

Hurricane Helene ripped through six southern states by the time her fury dissipated, hammering the shores of Florida’s Gulf Coast with a 15-foot storm surge and winds that reached 140 miles per hour and spawning tornadoes. It dumped up to three feet of rain on some areas as it plowed through parts of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Many rivers in the Southern Appalachian region flooded to unprecedented levels, leaving parts of some towns submerged and washing others into roiling waters. In some cases entire communities were swept away. Hospitals and nursing homes were evacuated. Manufacturing plants and mining operations shut down, impacting supply chains for critical supplies like intravenous medical fluids and quartz used to manufacture semiconductor chips.

Roads and bridges were destroyed or damaged, including portions of I-26 and I-40 between North Carolina and Tennessee. Access to Asheville, North Carolina, and surrounding areas was cut off, as were many others. Damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure across the region is expected to be many billions of dollars — at least $53 billion in North Carolina alone. 

The 400-mile wide storm was the deadliest to strike the United States mainland since 2005, killing more than 200 people with many still missing. 

While many of Helene’s effects were immediately obvious, other impacts, such as long-term damage to the environment and local economies, may take years to fully reveal themselves.

The Appalachian Voice will look at damage and recovery efforts in the region over the months and years to come, highlighting issues ranging from economic impacts, rebuilding infrastructure and mitigating future damage, to impacts to the environment and healthcare. We start that look with Northeast Tennessee.

Helene’s Tennessee damage by the numbers

As the river rose on Sept. 27, dumping heavy rains overnight and into the morning of the next day, the Nolichuck became a violent torrent carving a path of destruction through mountain communities along its path in Northeast Tennessee.

“It is hard to grasp the sheer magnitude of the devastation inflicted upon us this past week,” wrote Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison on Facebook.

A total of 17 lives were lost in Northeast Tennessee, including two from Cocke County, one from Greene County, one from Knox County, one from Johnson County, eight from Unicoi County and four from Washington County. 

“In Greene County we did lose one young man, who was on the river trying to look out for his neighbors to see if he could assist anyone during the storm as the Nolichucky was rising — Boone McCrary — and the river just began raging before he could get out,” says Tennessee state Rep. David Hawk, calling the death of the 32-year-old registered nurse tragic.

Of the eight lives lost in Unicoi County, six were employees of Impact Plastics, a manufacturing plant in the town of Erwin. The company and CEO Gerald O’Connor face lawsuits that allege employees were not allowed to leave the plant as flood water rose to dangerous levels.

The state had not completed damage assessments by county as of Oct. 30.

 “[The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency] has conducted more than 1,500 preliminary damage assessments in nine counties,” says Public Information Officer Melissa Egan.  Local, state, and federal assessments continue.”

A pile or muddy debris is all that’s left of a home in Greene County, Tennessee. Photo by Kevin Morrison

A report from the WJHL news channel estimates that property damage alone in the Northeast Tennessee region could reach a quarter of a billion dollars, including more than 300 homes that were completely destroyed or swept away. Greene County estimates property damage to be at least $20 million.

The loss of homes is a catastrophe for those who lived in them, and adds to the region’s housing crisis. 

“In terms of inventory of homes on the market, it is a challenge because we have had such a migration to Northeast Tennessee, so there has been an inventory concern in terms of available homes for purchase,” says Hawk. “But much like trying to dig out of any disaster, we are working with families who have lost everything to try to get them back into accommodations that will be positive for them in the short term and working through other mechanisms to get more long-term housing.”

Hawk said he is not naive enough to believe that there are no people living in campgrounds or on damaged property as a consequence of Helene. He strongly urges those people to reach out to appropriate agencies for assistance with obtaining safe, heated housing.

Those accommodations may include “the eventuality of FEMA bringing some livable trailers in where folks can stay for a temporary time frame — temporary being 18 months to two years — as they rebuild or find property to rebuild,” according to Hawk.

There are no overnight shelters specifically for Hurricane Helene survivors operating in Northeast Tennessee at this time. As of Oct. 25, Red Cross and partners had provided 915 overnight stays for more than 83 residents at 14 emergency shelters in Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

According to The Johnson City Press, U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., estimated the cost of damages to infrastructure — including but not limited to utilities and roads —  at more than half a billion dollars. The full extent of damages is still being tallied and some counties are still surveying damage, including the number of county road closures.

“We are looking at $300 million for state and local roads,” he said in the report.

Five state bridges in the region were completely destroyed, in addition to 14 that sustained significant damage. Six of those 14 were closed, along with 22 state roadway sections that were damaged or swept away. One of the largest bridges impacted by Helene was the 320-foot long Kinser Bridge over the Nolichucky River in Greene County, traversed by more than 10,000 vehicles daily. The bridge collapsed and was washed down the river.

“We anticipate hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and months of closures,” reads a statement from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Tennessee railroads took a major hit from Helene as well, with sections along at least 100 miles of track and a number of bridges washed out or impassable.The region’s remoteness exacerbated the extensive damage and hindered railroads and first responders from accessing some damaged areas.

The Unicoi County Emergency Management office notified Ballad Health at 9:38 a.m. that its 10-bed Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin had to be evacuated. Staff began preparing patients to be moved to other facilities, but as ambulances arrived, the river swept over its banks and inundated the parking lot, making a ground evacuation impossible. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency sent boats for a water rescue, but the rapidly rising water moved too fast and carried too much dangerous debris. By the time winds and rain subsided and 54 people were rescued from the roof by helicopter seven hours later, the river had engulfed the hospital to within 10 feet of the rooftop and left emergency vehicles submerged in the parking lot.

Helene closed two other hospitals in Greene and Carter counties.

The Greeneville Water Commission’s water intake plant on the Nolichucky was engulfed, cutting off water to most of Greene County. According to a report at TennesseeLookout.com, 17 water systems in Northeast Tennessee issued boil water advisories and multiple other systems reported a variety of problems caused by flooding. 

Store shelves were quickly emptied of bottled water as volunteers, the Tennessee National Guard and government agencies sought to distribute water. In addition to public distribution points, the Army National Guard, state and federal agencies, churches, nonprofits and volunteers delivered water and other supplies by helicopter, 4-wheeler and mules to people isolated by damage to roads and bridges. 

Helene knocked out power to thousands across the Northeast Tennessee region but outages have largely been restored. Fifty-three customers in five utility systems were still without power as of Oct. 30. Forty-one of those customers must repair damage to their homes before service can be reconnected.

“We currently have 10 businesses without power,” says Brittnee Bryant, public relations specialist with Erwin Utilities. “Due to flooding and winds from Helene, all infrastructure in this area was washed away and these businesses were severely damaged. We are currently working on temporary solutions for power restoration in that area at this time.”

The number of outages for one Northeast Tennessee utility was not available as of press time.

Cell phone and internet services were also knocked out in some areas. Twenty-two post offices closed and mail delivery to many communities was interrupted.

Tennessee Valley Authority managed flood waters by adjusting flows over dams, mitigating even more catastrophic flooding as far south as Knoxville, but residents downstream of the Nolichucky Dam in Cocke, Greene and Hamblen counties spent a tense night under an imminent dam collapse warning. The 94-foot dam, built in 1913, held in spite of its flow increasing to nearly twice that of Niagara Falls — averting more catastrophic damage and loss of life.

The economic loss to the region will continue for years, from lost jobs and tax revenue, to impacts on the region’s tourist industry.

Helene dealt a huge blow to the region’s outdoor recreation economy, including communities that rely on the Appalachian Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and state and national parks and recreation areas.

“Hurricane Helene is the largest natural disaster — in terms of geographic footprint — to impact the Appalachian Trail in its 100-year history,” reads a news release from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. 

Nearly 950 miles of the Appalachian Trail run through North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, considered the most visited national park in the country, is still assessing damage.

The park closed more than a dozen areas and facilities during the immediate aftermath of the storm, due to damage to roads, trails and structures, including the loss of a 70-foot bridge and “a land slide that took out 100 feet of trail.” Limited staffing also influenced closures within the park, as some staff dealt with hurricane damage to their homes, assisted other agencies with response and recovery efforts, or were cut off from the park by road closures.

Within the park, the Cataloochee Valley area suffered the most damage. Travel to the park was also impacted by road closures and impacts to surrounding gateway communities including Cocke County, Tennessee, which was hit hard by flooding, damaged power lines and limited resources such as gas, food and water.

As of press time, most park roads, visitor centers and facilities have reopened, according to the park. While “trails on the Tennessee side of the park are open, several trails on the North Carolina side are closed,” according to an advisory posted on the park’s website on Oct. 29. The park continues to assess the trails on the eastern end of the park to find the western edge of the damage in the backcountry.

In Greene County the historic David Crockett Birthplace State Park, located on top of Native American and early European settlements, was nearly wiped off the map. While the park’s visitor center remains, the campground and associated buildings, the living history farmstead, and some trails were obliterated.

The cancellation of the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough inflicted a huge cultural and economic impact on the Northeast Tennessee region. It’s the third time in five years the festival has been canceled, the first two due to Covid.

“Our festival is the biggest tourist activity for Jonesborough and probably the second-biggest tourist activity for the Tri-Cities,” says Michael Carson, president of the International Storytelling Center, noting that about 10,000 people typically attend the festival. 

The financial hit to both the center and surrounding communities is staggering.

“I think going into next year, we estimate for ourselves, maybe $500,000 to $600,000, but for the region, maybe $1.5 million,” Carson says, citing impacts to businesses ranging from restaurants and hotels to shops and gas stations.”

“Canceling the National Storytelling Festival was a very difficult, but necessary, decision,” says Angela White, communications associate for the center. “We could not justify bringing thousands of people from around the world to our region when so many of our friends and neighbors were in survival mode.”

She adds, “The story of this flood is not over —  it will be weeks, months, or years before we know the true impact.”