Hurricane Helene Highlights Appalachia’s Rising Flood Risk

The devastation from Hurricane Helene continues to unfold across the southeastern U.S. More than 200 lives lost, homes and businesses and critical infrastructure destroyed, tens of thousands still without power, a violent disruption of lives and livelihoods. Response is ongoing; recovery will take years.

Helene made landfall along Florida's western coast, causing immense damage there. The storm also brought massive destruction hundreds of miles inland, largely in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. The storm dumped record-setting rainfall across parts of Appalachia, and early data from the U.S. Geological Survey reports that 34 new flood records were set by the storm, including 18 in North Carolina alone.

Climate change targets Appalachia's unique challenges

It may come as a surprise to see such intense flooding so far from the coast, but for those living in Appalachia, it's just the latest unnatural disaster.

The region's geography, economic capacity, and industrial legacy make it uniquely vulnerable to flooding-and climate change is making things worse. Appalachia has been called "ground zero" for rainfall; from 2013-2023, there were nearly 20 federally declared flooding disasters across Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio.

Total Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spending on these events totals nearly $1 billion and at least 230 lives have been lost due to flash flooding. Those staggering statistics do not include any from Helene.

Earlier this year, NWF, Appalachian Citizens' Law Center (ACLC), and ReImagine Appalachia released a four-pillar flood resilience policy roadmap for Appalachia. The platform's pillars highlight the unique challenges the entire region-which includes the parts of Tennessee and North Carolina hit by Helene-faces when it comes to flood response and recovery.

Some of those challenges are due to the region's landscape. Appalachia's rolling hills and mountains mean people often live adjacent to rivers or streams without much surrounding flat land, putting them at higher risk from rising waters.

Steep valleys can also be more flood-prone during extreme rainfall events. Logging and mining have reduced the land's capacity to retain rainfall, especially where land has not been properly restored. For example, the 2022 floods that devastated eastern Kentucky were likely made more severe due to the legacy of surface coal mining.

Property damage and debris as a result of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC. Credit: Bill McManis/Flickr

Overburdened Appalachian communities

Meanwhile, many small towns in Appalachia do not have the capacity to adequately respond to flood disasters. Access to federal funds for disaster response and recovery requires local resources, both human and financial. These are often in short supply in rural or small communities; especially coal communities, where local budgets have steadily and dramatically declined.

The cost to low-income communities during disaster recovery efforts can strain any household budget. In Appalachia, where the annual median household income is $20,000 less than the national median, this impact is even more severe.

The flood resilience policy roadmap for Appalachia includes numerous policy recommendations to improve Appalachian communities' ability to respond and recover from floods-and to be more resilient against rising climate impacts. These include providing additional funding for ecologically appropriate mine restoration, flood hazard mapping, USGS streamgages, and much more.

Read the full platform here.

If you are interested in supporting those impacted by Hurricane Helene, or need support, our partners at Appalachian Voices have collected this list of resources and ways to give.

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