Thanks so much for your interest in seeing North Carolina's rapid recovery from this devastating storm. Please consider supporting the ongoing production of this documentation series and participating in direct donations to those impacted, by giving to my GoFundMe campaign "See the Affect" at www.gofundme.com/f/see-the-affect In response to the many requests for ways to give, and to provide direct visibility of your contributions being deployed, the use of funds will be highlighted on this channel. Please join me in having a positive affect on WNC communities and stay engaged as we chronicle our recovery.
Great information. Born and raised here in Asheville. It is mind blowing to witness the change in the lay of the land. This is a very informative video. Yes I saw the Mans face. Thank you for getting this footage.
This is so well done . Would love to see footage of Swannanoa River Road (hwy 81) from tunnel rd to biltmore, my favorite hypotenuse to move around town.
I'm not convinced the spillway performed as designed. Looking carefully at minutes 9:22 to 9:45, you will see a large chunk of the dam that is now resting at the bottom of the spillway. If this failed when the water was higher, which is easy to assume, that would have released millions of gallons of water much more quickly than going over the spillway as designed.
I've seen a video of 4 people discussing this about three spillways that were opened. And, that the reservoir was a lot higher than it should have been at that time of the season. I also seen on a video, a man that was there right before it happened that said the same thing.
Thanks for the feedback. I hope your family and neighbors are safe. Our community has a long road to recovery ahead. I pray livelihoods and our local economy are restored quickly.
I lived in Black Mountain for 18 years and very familiar with this entire area. There used to be a beaver dam on the outflow from North Fork which I'm guessing is no longer there. I'd be interested in you covering Curtis Creek out of Old Fort. The 2004 flooding did significant damage to the road and bridges above the campground and it's likely much worse from Helene. Thanks for the video and the bird's eye view.
I see the face you pointed out....I see another face for you...the entire quarry is a face. Even has an eyebrow of vehicles....has 2 different mouths. One huge Joker mouth, with a sad frown under joker mouth. You might have whats called Paredolia which is when a person sees faces in inanimate objects (I have that). I have had Paredolia for most of my 66 yrs of my life. My parents had this huge picture in our living room that was of a BIG tree. There was a stream & people having a picnic...was taking place in the 1800s. That tree scared the crap out of me, cause all I could see was a scary monster. I literally saw a face a monster face lol. It's funny to think about it now, but I could not stand looking at that picture. I enjoy watching your videos & want to thank you for bringing attention to the devastation of Helene., & how much help the victims need. Thank you again.
Excellent documentation, in particular, the drone views! Your knowledge of the area, and description, is very helpful in realizing the extent of the damage. Thanks, & God Bless !
Dominic if you want to see a mind-blowing scene, come up to Burnsville and fly over the new CANYON just out of town going out toward Pensacola. I'm from Utah. This is just like out west. No joke.
I’ve spoken with some friends that live up there, as well as some aid & rescue personnel. I just can’t believe the scale of the destruction. While I’m curious about all the surrounding areas, I’m not sure how far out I’ll make it at the pace I’m going. Every adjoining neighborhood from mine has such tremendous need. My ultimate goal is to bring awareness to our recovery and have enough reach to impact our economic rebound as we get back to business. That may include broader WNC, but will realistically be areas closer to home in Black Mountain.
I appreciate that you gave directions of views . Yes I saw the face of man. Saying what the businesses are in addition to their names would be nice. Thanks. Most interesting.
GREAT !! job.X 2 Sir , you gave a Awesome Informative look. We are so sorry what happened there . We have been praying Sometime with tears for the whole areas and Families that Lost Loved Ones. It will take time to grieve Many of US Grieve also with You Resilient That's what we have been praying over you in your Area for all peoples there Father GOD Please Help & Give them Wisdom on How to Bu ild Back Better Higher .I enjoy your videos This tell the Story so many ask about YOu Video`s take uS with YOu or Bring US there,
14:45 Agree, looks like head, face, neck & shoulders. Interesting indeed. 🥺 The entire situation is beyond normal. I’m from NC. My family is all there in piedmont & coast. Never heard mountains getting hit by hurricane rains & wind. Baffling. Thank you for great aerial view. Prayers for a speedy recovery, rebuild & continued help especially for those in need.
Agreed. It definitely wasn't what we normally see. The intensity of the wind was amplified by so many tornados. You can see classic tornado tracks through the forests and neighborhoods. The dangers were compounded - stream became raging rivers, hillsides produced debris flows, and the wind was an entirely separate and unpredictable force.
I am so grateful to see this...ive been coming here for 16 years i went swimming in Lake Eden took my dogs to the kennel nearby. I just saw by air that where i always went was safe but very close to the flood waters. ❤
@DominicTaverniti Yes I've been going for 16 years. I called them and talk to them and they were open just needed water brought in. Dogs all good I hope to be back up there 2025
Very thorough and informative video. I know that many railfans out there would like some footage of the massive repairs necessary for the old Clinchfield division of what is now CSX. Thank you
Great feedback! Tracing the rail would be very interesting. I just can’t imagine how long it’ll take to repair tracks through our region. Check out this video from Old Fort, I have a few shots of the tracks coming off the eastern continental divide. It’s very aggressive terrain, and was severely damaged. ruclips.net/video/wbsL1uSty-0/видео.htmlsi=dQ87O0R71OwIy3Hs
The lower part of the North Fork Swannanoa must have a good grade of sand and gravel that is being used in the quarry operations. Over geological time there must have been many floods like the one in 2024 to bring all that material down there from the mountains. All those ponds next to the river must have been earlier quarries. It is good to leave the area next to the river without developing it as floods will happen again. It looks like they filled in an elevated pad for the Ingles distribution center to minimize flooding. That was smart engineering.
I’m sorry for my previous comment… now knowing how much work you put into this. I feel like an azz. Again, I apologize and I hope people are doing better ! ❤️💯🙏👍💪
Yes he was an instructor at the unique Black Mountain College there. A progressive arts college employing famous people such as Josef Albers who had fled nazi Germany in the 40's.
Excellent presentation. I am presently overseas, but own vacant property in the Round Mountain Development, which is in the Toxaway Creek drainage, close to Rosman and the headwaters of the Fr. Broad. While I am not sure, I believe our drainage eventually makes it to the Nantahala. In any event, I would like to see some videos of this area, since I have been unable to get a handle on the level of damage to infrastructure in my area. Thanks for any leads!☝
@kennethstein2045 - I haven't been over near that area. In general, I've heard that Brevard wasn't hit too hard. But if I look at Google Maps around Rosman, I see some road closures on East Fork Rd, Parkway Rd., 276 starting around Looking Glass Falls. I'm not sure I'll make it out that far from Black Mountain, but if I do or find related videos online, I'll be sure to let you know.
Fantastic work brother! I've in person had to drive through the River Arts District and Thompson Street just up stream from Biltmore Village. Would love to see you film those areas especially between Lowes and the village. Cheers!
I doubt it would be possible but if there is any way to travel up to the point where the landslides started. It would be interesting to see the beginning and direction of the flow.
Mark Huneycutt is putting out some fantastic videos. In this one, he hike debris flows and provides an up close view that you have to see - ruclips.net/video/dC35v2I73LY/видео.htmlsi=zfice4AW4YetttKT
@@DominicTaverniti thanks I saw one of them recently and I wish I was in such great physical shape to be able to hike as far as he did up and down. I was exhausted just watching the video. Where I live there is nowhere to hike. I am definitely considering coming up there in the future to do some hiking, to pray, and pay my respects to so many souls lost in the area. I feel like the river is a flowing cemetery to those never found💔
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m interested in hearing more about what you know, as well as your thoughts on how the events unfolded. Do you feel that the dam release was warranted, and that the consequential damage was a very unfortunate but unavoidable? I know this is a difficult question, considering the loss to your family, but you’re perhaps the right person to offer an opinion on it.
@@DominicTaverniti hard to know what the scenario would look like if they had All the gates open before the rain event. Wlos 13 reported the water departments answer to what happened. The water was 18' above full pool when the emergency spill way opened up and that the system is mechanically controlled . What happened,happened, all we can do is clean up and rebuild.
I don't know that it wasn't. I recall hearing about reservoirs being lowered in general, but don't recall the specifics. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the North Fork reservoir can chime in.
From The City of Asheville's website. I will follow up with a couple of comments that some may find interesting: Still, (after measures taken since the 1916 flood) the force of nature continues to impact Asheville with recurring floods. “About every 20 years we have a major flooding event,” Coates noted. In 2004, virtually the same scenario walloped Asheville when Tropical Storms Ivan and Frances converged upon Western North Carolina, producing the wettest September ever recorded. Again, Ivan came up from the Gulf, followed by Frances for another double tropical storm wallop. Frances alone dropped 23 inches of rain on some parts of WNC. When the storms hit, Asheville’s North Fork Reservoir was full. For safety reasons, some of the water had to be released. Unfortunately, 11 people died in Western North Carolina during the 2004 floods. One hundred forty homes were destroyed, another 16,234 damaged. There was $7 million dollars in damage in a seven-county area. It served as a sobering reminder of what can happen, even today. In the wake of the flood of 2004, Asheville updated its flood plan with an eye toward careful management of the amount of water in the North Fork Reservoir, Asheville’s 22,000 acres of pristine, protected watershed. The plan is designed to manage storage within the reservoir and considers seasonal factors such as rain events and the vegetative cover within the watershed, according to Water Resources Director Jade Dundas. Water can be released from the reservoir in advance of major rainfall forecasts. That builds in capacity in the North Fork Reservoir to lessen the need to release water during a major weather event. Even so, “the dam was never designed for flood mitigation,” according to Leslie Carreiro, Water Production/Quality Division Manager. It was designed to provide water for the City of Asheville. Stream gauges now installed above and below the reservoir help inform release decisions. While portions of Biltmore Village flooded 4 feet deep during the flood of 2004, inundation maps showed only 2 or 3 inches of the Biltmore Village flooding came from the reservoir.
The wisest words heard were that of the worker stating, "The river is where it is." There are untold examples from the past of trying to, "put the river back in its place." It usually works only for a very short time. It is evident that this type of event is the norm and not the exception for the area - given the mining operations. The mines haul the material out to projects that the river transports from the mountain tops. The 'environmentalists' should consider this as 'green' as hydropower.
In some places, slides buried the rail line twenty-eight feet deep. In the 1917 book The Floods of July, 1916 - How the Southern Railway Organization Met an Emergency, published by Southern Railway to document the event, it was estimated that a total 826 miles of track was washed out of service.
I'll need to check that book out. Books will be written about this flood as well and those historical references should be a good guide to start the process.
Thank you for this info. I have volunteered at the Black Mountain Home for Children for the past three summers. Please tell their story. The debris slide hit their campus at Shepherd of the Hills.
@monakay - Thank you for sharing. I spent a couple days following the storm at Black Mountain Home for Children working with Jimmy and team. I wasn't aware that a slide hit that structure. We were focused on bringing in donations and supplies, cutting downed trees, and getting things organized. They retrofitted some buildings for running water since city water was out at the time. What a wonderful group and mission!
I was there until two days before the storm. I'm ready to go back. I love being there. I went to Boone on Monday after the storm and volunteered with the Billy Graham Chaplains and Samaritan's Purse. My heart is in Black Mountain.
@@monakay Samaritan's Purse has had a large presence and impact here, setting up HQ at Billy Graham Training Center just down I40. And on your earlier comment, I'm headed to film the slide at Shepherd of the Hills in the coming day or so. I'll post that updated as soon as it's ready.
Can you share more on this? I don’t know a lot about our reservoirs and waterways. This is a fresh learning curve for me. I don’t immediately assume that those in control always choose the best course of action, just because they’re the authority. But practically, with such enormous watersheds collecting 20 to 30 inches of water over such a condensed timeframe, where is it going to go? If the alternative to releasing it is an increased probability of damage to the dam and potential failure, then which option is right. Is there a right answer? Would love to hear more on your thoughts.
There is if you are making a choice between that and a total dam failure - then you’re looking at a 200 ft wall of water minimum. Look up “Johnstown” for what that looks like - 2,200 deaths and towns totally annihilated.
I don’t recall exactly. I think it was 88.7 WNCW, my go to preset in the truck. But I recall continuously scanning stations that Friday, in complete surprise that there wasn’t a stream of timely info.
I’ll look into it. I have several friends that live in Laurel Ridge. Perhaps I can drive through for a closer look. Drone footage from a distance only shows a portion of what’s actually going on. Thanks for asking.
I didn't notice that when filming or even editing. One of the sections at the top if the spillway (not sure if it's called a gate or not) is now laying at the bottom of the spillway.
Notice what happened here (see below)? The design criteria of Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) had always been 34 inches of rain in a 24- hour period. The city lobbied the TVA to 'update' this figure to more 'accurate' numbers, which they did in 2014, and the PMP was lowered to 28.4 inches (the 'point four' is no doubt to show the painstaking accuracy that an engineer of yesteryear, using a slide rule, could never have achieved). Now, has anyone ever heard that 'climate change is causing more severe storms'. Why would a dam renovation project that started in 2017 and was completed in 2021, use forecasted 'worst case scenario' rain estimates that are nearly 20% lower than historical numbers? The North Fork Water Treatment Plant (NF) has had the privilege of serving the greater Asheville area since 1955. This is the year the dam and water plant were completed. Since that time the North Carolina legislature passed the Dam Safety Law and over the decades supplementary Administrative Codes have been put into place, therefore the NF Dam was required to pass and store the Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) storm event due to its classification as a “very large high hazard” dam. The PMP storm would produce 34 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. The original principal spillway was not able to meet the current regulation without the use of a Flood Operations Plan (FOP). The FOP was a temporary fix until a more permanent solution could be found. Beginning in 2012, the department began to look at different types of spillway designs and improvements to meet current regulations. Schnabel Engineering had been inspecting the dams for the department and had overseen small improvements. Due to this knowledge and their area of expertise, Schnabel was chosen to provide options and then engineering services (design, pre-qualifying construction companies, bidding, resident engineering services and construction over-sight) for the project. In 2014 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began updating the rain data to provide more accurate PMP values to that region. Schnabel requested that the French Broad River Basin be included in the study, which proved to be a valuable asset to the design team. Once the data was available, the City of Asheville used the information to request an updated PMP amount from NC Dam Safety. The PMP volume went from 34 inches to 28.4 inches for a 24-hour period thus reducing the total volume of water the spillways would need to pass, limit the environmental impact, and reduce construction costs. A labyrinth design was chosen, with the final design being the first Fusegate spillway in North Carolina. This design reduced the spillway width by 100 feet; reducing excavation, construction time and costs.
@danlowe8684 - Thanks so much for sharing. You have a very deep knowledge of this subject. I should have taken you along with me so that I didn't have to speculate beyond the few facts that I have about the reservoir, dam and watershed. Thanks for adding this info to this comment thread.
There was never any breach in any water containment structures. People don’t realize that 1 inch of rain in 1 square mile contains 17.4 million gallons. Calculate the square miles of the effected area by 36 inches of rain. Some reports were closer to 48 inches. The smaller number alone is in the trillions of gallons. I lived in The Big Thompson Canyon area outside Loveland Colorado and in 2013 spring snow melt filled the canyon in some places 40 to 50 feet deep. It washed away the highway and everything on both sides of the river from Estes Park to just west of Loveland a distance of almost 30 miles. Water dispersed at Greeley which was another 20 miles. That flood took close to 4 years to just repair the infrastructure. That was a granite and stone lined canyon and not wooded hollows and mountain side. Western NC isn’t prepared for a material weather occurrence of that size. I flew close to 10 fixed wing flights to Hickory and Stateville airports a day after the storm and was shocked it wasn’t worse. Bless the volunteers and the communities in Western North Carolina.
The Amos for making those flights! Doing the math on the rain fall volume is really eye opening. Let’s see if I recall this correctly… I found a stat that WNC area is over 11k square miles. At the minimum estimated fall of 18” in three days in parts of the region, it nets almost 5 trillion gallons. The number would surly be greater. Hard to comprehend.
This dam was never in any sort of jeopardy of failure, but It is my understanding that they did open the floodgates fully coming out of the dam because the dam was going to be topped over if they didn't. When a dam gets topped over and water is running over it in an uncontrolled fashion, that is when The foundation of your dam can get compromised thus causing dam failure.
It doesn't have any gates to open. A section of fusegate is completely missing. There wasn't always a giant hole in it. There had to be a failure to wash away all the water lines because there's no other water source there. That would also explain why the water came so fast in Swannanoa. I remember an article somewhere a few years ago where a government agency said the dam wouldn't hold up to an insane amount of rainfall and expensive updates were needed but Asheville and Buncombe County talked their way out of it.
@@danielb5215 a very good point you make there. The following are not my words but a quote: Each fusegate is set to overturn at a progressively higher reservoir elevation. For the maximum design discharge, usually equivalent to the PMF, all of the fusegates tip and the entire crest length is available to pass the flow. "Instead of the main dam being damaged or breached, the fusegates are washed away by the lake’s rising floodwaters. At Terminus dam, the type of storm that would cause the fusegates to wash away has a probability of 700 years." So it is likely that the amount of rainfall caused the reservoir to become completely full and the flow through the fusegate mechanism at the top of the dam caused all of them to open, as per the mechanism. It is most likely that one of the fusegates gave way and allowed full flow through its particular opening based on the picture and/or video given by the content creator here.
I don't remember which video it was I saw showing exactly what you just explained. They had one gate open on the far end. On the opposite end the water was overflowing faster than it was through the open gate.
The spillway improvement was just completed in 2020. From the contractor’s website it says, “ the North Fork, spillway and embankment improvements project was designed to update the North Fork reservoir dam, which was originally built in 1955. Advances in technology since it’s construction, allowed the City of Asheville to determine ways to make the damn more resilient in the face of possible, but unlikely storm events. The dam was raised by 4 feet with added buttressing to reinforce seismic stability and the principal spillway was improved while a new auxiliary spillway was constructed.”
A day or so after the storm we were told via radio that the dam was going to collapse imminently. We evacuated our workers and thankfully it was not true. I never did get the scoop on why we were told it was going to fail.
No kidding! Perhaps because the crew was right there near the dam, you received the very first word before they investigated further. That's really terrifying. I'm very thankful the dam wasn't compromised.
That struck me as well. I’m pretty sure we’re looking at a temporary solution while everything is being rebuilt. The pipes under the gravel road can’t possibly be the long term solution here.
Thanks so much for your interest in seeing North Carolina's rapid recovery from this devastating storm. Please consider supporting the ongoing production of this documentation series and participating in direct donations to those impacted, by giving to my GoFundMe campaign "See the Affect" at www.gofundme.com/f/see-the-affect
In response to the many requests for ways to give, and to provide direct visibility of your contributions being deployed, the use of funds will be highlighted on this channel. Please join me in having a positive affect on WNC communities and stay engaged as we chronicle our recovery.
Thank you. This explains a lot seeing it from a drone view.
Great information. Born and raised here in Asheville. It is mind blowing to witness the change in the lay of the land. This is a very informative video. Yes I saw the Mans face. Thank you for getting this footage.
This is so well done . Would love to see footage of Swannanoa River Road (hwy 81) from tunnel rd to biltmore, my favorite hypotenuse to move around town.
In North Asheville here, TY for taking the time to film and upload !
I'm not convinced the spillway performed as designed. Looking carefully at minutes 9:22 to 9:45, you will see a large chunk of the dam that is now resting at the bottom of the spillway. If this failed when the water was higher, which is easy to assume, that would have released millions of gallons of water much more quickly than going over the spillway as designed.
Good eye
that is part of the spillway gate system, one piece is missing....it failed as designed
That peice was designed to fail to keep the dam from failing yes water was flowing out like crazy
I've seen a video of 4 people discussing this about three spillways that were opened. And, that the reservoir was a lot higher than it should have been at that time of the season. I also seen on a video, a man that was there right before it happened that said the same thing.
@randythompson5441 they are an automatic spillway system, there is nothing to open
This invaluable! Family in Swannanoa. Good to see what and how it happened. Thank you! Great shots and explanations of areas. 🤗
Thanks for the feedback. I hope your family and neighbors are safe. Our community has a long road to recovery ahead. I pray livelihoods and our local economy are restored quickly.
You furnish the most thorough capture of the disaster that has happened....thanks so much.
I appreciate that. There are some great videos out there. I hope these are helpful.
I lived in Black Mountain for 18 years and very familiar with this entire area. There used to be a beaver dam on the outflow from North Fork which I'm guessing is no longer there. I'd be interested in you covering Curtis Creek out of Old Fort. The 2004 flooding did significant damage to the road and bridges above the campground and it's likely much worse from Helene. Thanks for the video and the bird's eye view.
I see the face you pointed out....I see another face for you...the entire quarry is a face. Even has an eyebrow of vehicles....has 2 different mouths. One huge Joker mouth, with a sad frown under joker mouth. You might have whats called Paredolia which is when a person sees faces in inanimate objects (I have that). I have had Paredolia for most of my 66 yrs of my life.
My parents had this huge picture in our living room that was of a BIG tree. There was a stream & people having a picnic...was taking place in the 1800s. That tree scared the crap out of me, cause all I could see was a scary monster. I literally saw a face a monster face lol. It's funny to think about it now, but I could not stand looking at that picture.
I enjoy watching your videos & want to thank you for bringing attention to the devastation of Helene., & how much help the victims need. Thank you again.
Excellent documentation, in particular, the drone views! Your knowledge of the area, and description, is very helpful in realizing the extent of the damage. Thanks, & God Bless !
Dominic if you want to see a mind-blowing scene, come up to Burnsville and fly over the new CANYON just out of town going out toward Pensacola. I'm from Utah. This is just like out west. No joke.
I’ve spoken with some friends that live up there, as well as some aid & rescue personnel. I just can’t believe the scale of the destruction. While I’m curious about all the surrounding areas, I’m not sure how far out I’ll make it at the pace I’m going. Every adjoining neighborhood from mine has such tremendous need. My ultimate goal is to bring awareness to our recovery and have enough reach to impact our economic rebound as we get back to business. That may include broader WNC, but will realistically be areas closer to home in Black Mountain.
@@DominicTaverniti Sounds good. Have a nice weekend.
Thank you for your very informative videos. ❤
I’m glad you found them helpful!
I appreciate that you gave directions of views . Yes I saw the face of man. Saying what the businesses are in addition to their names would be nice. Thanks. Most interesting.
Thank you for putting this video together and sharing it.
It's hard to fathom how much water there was to create all this destruction. Thanks for the videos.
GREAT !! job.X 2 Sir , you gave a Awesome Informative look. We are so sorry what happened there . We have been praying Sometime with tears for the whole areas and Families that Lost Loved Ones. It will take time to grieve Many of US Grieve also with You Resilient That's what we have been praying over you in your Area for all peoples there Father GOD Please Help & Give them Wisdom on How to Bu ild Back Better Higher .I enjoy your videos This tell the Story so many ask about YOu Video`s take uS with YOu or Bring US there,
I really appreciate this footage you've uploaded. It gives us a good view of the scope of damage that was done. Those poor people.
Thank you so much for another informative and fascinating video about Helene and its impact on western NC.
14:45 Agree, looks like head, face, neck & shoulders. Interesting indeed. 🥺 The entire situation is beyond normal. I’m from NC. My family is all there in piedmont & coast. Never heard mountains getting hit by hurricane rains & wind. Baffling. Thank you for great aerial view. Prayers for a speedy recovery, rebuild & continued help especially for those in need.
Agreed. It definitely wasn't what we normally see. The intensity of the wind was amplified by so many tornados. You can see classic tornado tracks through the forests and neighborhoods. The dangers were compounded - stream became raging rivers, hillsides produced debris flows, and the wind was an entirely separate and unpredictable force.
I am so grateful to see this...ive been coming here for 16 years i went swimming in Lake Eden took my dogs to the kennel nearby. I just saw by air that where i always went was safe but very close to the flood waters. ❤
Did you go to Bed and Biscuit? That's a great place.
@DominicTaverniti Yes I've been going for 16 years. I called them and talk to them and they were open just needed water brought in. Dogs all good I hope to be back up there 2025
Very thorough and informative video. I know that many railfans out there would like some footage of the massive repairs necessary for the old Clinchfield division of what is now CSX. Thank you
Great feedback! Tracing the rail would be very interesting. I just can’t imagine how long it’ll take to repair tracks through our region. Check out this video from Old Fort, I have a few shots of the tracks coming off the eastern continental divide. It’s very aggressive terrain, and was severely damaged. ruclips.net/video/wbsL1uSty-0/видео.htmlsi=dQ87O0R71OwIy3Hs
Thanks so much. It’s very informative to see something close up that I’ve generally seen from a distance.
The lower part of the North Fork Swannanoa must have a good grade of sand and gravel that is being used in the quarry operations. Over geological time there must have been many floods like the one in 2024 to bring all that material down there from the mountains. All those ponds next to the river must have been earlier quarries. It is good to leave the area next to the river without developing it as floods will happen again. It looks like they filled in an elevated pad for the Ingles distribution center to minimize flooding. That was smart engineering.
The quarry is Grovestone so you had it right. That road goes to the asphalt plant.
Excellent. Thanks from Oteen, East Asheville.
I’m sorry for my previous comment… now knowing how much work you put into this. I feel like an azz. Again, I apologize and I hope people are doing better ! ❤️💯🙏👍💪
No apologies needed. If it helps, it wasn't distasteful enough for me to even remember. I appreciate the comment. Cheers.
Thx for filming this.
Great information! Thank you!
14:53, sure favors Buckminster Fuller, who designed the building to the right of the image in the sediment.
Yes he was an instructor at the unique Black Mountain College there. A progressive arts college employing famous people such as Josef Albers who had fled nazi Germany in the 40's.
Just looked the Man up and does look exactly like him.
Excellent presentation. I am presently overseas, but own vacant property in the Round Mountain Development, which is in the Toxaway Creek drainage, close to Rosman and the headwaters of the Fr. Broad. While I am not sure, I believe our drainage eventually makes it to the Nantahala. In any event, I would like to see some videos of this area, since I have been unable to get a handle on the level of damage to infrastructure in my area. Thanks for any leads!☝
@kennethstein2045 - I haven't been over near that area. In general, I've heard that Brevard wasn't hit too hard. But if I look at Google Maps around Rosman, I see some road closures on East Fork Rd, Parkway Rd., 276 starting around Looking Glass Falls. I'm not sure I'll make it out that far from Black Mountain, but if I do or find related videos online, I'll be sure to let you know.
digging the drone footage DT
8:56 I think the reservoir itself is about 334 acres, Wikipedia gets some things wrong sometimes.
Thanks so much for the correction. Wish I got that right in the video. I’ll have to cross reference more sources for future stats .
Fantastic work brother! I've in person had to drive through the River Arts District and Thompson Street just up stream from Biltmore Village. Would love to see you film those areas especially between Lowes and the village. Cheers!
Are you planning on doing the Bee Tree watershed?
Yes. I’m head out to Bee Tree today. I hope to release the video this evening or tomorrow.
@@DominicTaverniti and that's how you earn the like subscribe and bell icon all in one go.
@TheIhoodz - Here's that video of Bee Tree. I hope it's helpful!+ ruclips.net/video/Eaz6BvGjYOQ/видео.html
Well done video!
I doubt it would be possible but if there is any way to travel up to the point where the landslides started. It would be interesting to see the beginning and direction of the flow.
Mark Huneycutt is putting out some fantastic videos. In this one, he hike debris flows and provides an up close view that you have to see - ruclips.net/video/dC35v2I73LY/видео.htmlsi=zfice4AW4YetttKT
@@DominicTaverniti thanks I saw one of them recently and I wish I was in such great physical shape to be able to hike as far as he did up and down. I was exhausted just watching the video. Where I live there is nowhere to hike. I am definitely considering coming up there in the future to do some hiking, to pray, and pay my respects to so many souls lost in the area. I feel like the river is a flowing cemetery to those never found💔
Is the green color of the water chemicals that spilled into it? This is very helpful in showing the extent of damage. Thanks so much!
Moms house and neighborhood I grew up in was destroyed when they opened all the flood gates. It was described as a thundering wave of water.
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m interested in hearing more about what you know, as well as your thoughts on how the events unfolded. Do you feel that the dam release was warranted, and that the consequential damage was a very unfortunate but unavoidable? I know this is a difficult question, considering the loss to your family, but you’re perhaps the right person to offer an opinion on it.
@@DominicTaverniti hard to know what the scenario would look like if they had All the gates open before the rain event. Wlos 13 reported the water departments answer to what happened. The water was 18' above full pool when the emergency spill way opened up and that the system is mechanically controlled . What happened,happened, all we can do is clean up and rebuild.
Why wasn't the resevior water level lowered before all the rain and the hurricane hit?
I don't know that it wasn't. I recall hearing about reservoirs being lowered in general, but don't recall the specifics. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the North Fork reservoir can chime in.
the water was 8 feet below spillway level before the storm started, then was about 10 feet above spillway (or more) within 24 hours
there is no manual lowering of water for this reservoir to my knowledge
Would love to see the details on “Walter’s dam” Waterville.
From The City of Asheville's website. I will follow up with a couple of comments that some may find interesting:
Still, (after measures taken since the 1916 flood) the force of nature continues to impact Asheville with recurring floods. “About every 20 years we have a major flooding event,” Coates noted.
In 2004, virtually the same scenario walloped Asheville when Tropical Storms Ivan and Frances converged upon Western North Carolina, producing the wettest September ever recorded. Again, Ivan came up from the Gulf, followed by Frances for another double tropical storm wallop. Frances alone dropped 23 inches of rain on some parts of WNC. When the storms hit, Asheville’s North Fork Reservoir was full. For safety reasons, some of the water had to be released. Unfortunately, 11 people died in Western North Carolina during the 2004 floods. One hundred forty homes were destroyed, another 16,234 damaged. There was $7 million dollars in damage in a seven-county area. It served as a sobering reminder of what can happen, even today.
In the wake of the flood of 2004, Asheville updated its flood plan with an eye toward careful management of the amount of water in the North Fork Reservoir, Asheville’s 22,000 acres of pristine, protected watershed. The plan is designed to manage storage within the reservoir and considers seasonal factors such as rain events and the vegetative cover within the watershed, according to Water Resources Director Jade Dundas.
Water can be released from the reservoir in advance of major rainfall forecasts. That builds in capacity in the North Fork Reservoir to lessen the need to release water during a major weather event. Even so, “the dam was never designed for flood mitigation,” according to Leslie Carreiro, Water Production/Quality Division Manager. It was designed to provide water for the City of Asheville.
Stream gauges now installed above and below the reservoir help inform release decisions. While portions of Biltmore Village flooded 4 feet deep during the flood of 2004, inundation maps showed only 2 or 3 inches of the Biltmore Village flooding came from the reservoir.
The wisest words heard were that of the worker stating, "The river is where it is." There are untold examples from the past of trying to, "put the river back in its place." It usually works only for a very short time. It is evident that this type of event is the norm and not the exception for the area - given the mining operations. The mines haul the material out to projects that the river transports from the mountain tops. The 'environmentalists' should consider this as 'green' as hydropower.
Yeah. That guys was with the city. What a great quote.
Just a quick clarification. This reservoir is 500 acres, not 5000.
Thank so much for the correction. I guess I misread the 5,000 acre figure from some other spec about the watershed/reservoir.
In some places, slides buried the rail line twenty-eight feet deep. In the 1917 book The Floods of July, 1916 - How the Southern Railway Organization Met an Emergency, published by Southern Railway to document the event, it was estimated that a total 826 miles of track was washed out of service.
I'll need to check that book out. Books will be written about this flood as well and those historical references should be a good guide to start the process.
Thank you for this info. I have volunteered at the Black Mountain Home for Children for the past three summers. Please tell their story. The debris slide hit their campus at Shepherd of the Hills.
@monakay - Thank you for sharing. I spent a couple days following the storm at Black Mountain Home for Children working with Jimmy and team. I wasn't aware that a slide hit that structure. We were focused on bringing in donations and supplies, cutting downed trees, and getting things organized. They retrofitted some buildings for running water since city water was out at the time. What a wonderful group and mission!
I was there until two days before the storm. I'm ready to go back. I love being there. I went to Boone on Monday after the storm and volunteered with the Billy Graham Chaplains and Samaritan's Purse. My heart is in Black Mountain.
@@monakay Samaritan's Purse has had a large presence and impact here, setting up HQ at Billy Graham Training Center just down I40. And on your earlier comment, I'm headed to film the slide at Shepherd of the Hills in the coming day or so. I'll post that updated as soon as it's ready.
@@DominicTaverniti I look forward to your story. Thank you.
There is absolutely no good excuse to release a 30-40 foot tsunami
Can you share more on this? I don’t know a lot about our reservoirs and waterways. This is a fresh learning curve for me.
I don’t immediately assume that those in control always choose the best course of action, just because they’re the authority. But practically, with such enormous watersheds collecting 20 to 30 inches of water over such a condensed timeframe, where is it going to go? If the alternative to releasing it is an increased probability of damage to the dam and potential failure, then which option is right. Is there a right answer? Would love to hear more on your thoughts.
There is if you are making a choice between that and a total dam failure - then you’re looking at a 200 ft wall of water minimum.
Look up “Johnstown” for what that looks like - 2,200 deaths and towns totally annihilated.
they didnt...
I think that sediment face looks more like a sloth. great footage, thanks for your coverage.
You may have changed my mind to a sloth. I like it. Thanks for checking out the video.
What stations was that warnings on ?
I don’t recall exactly. I think it was 88.7 WNCW, my go to preset in the truck. But I recall continuously scanning stations that Friday, in complete surprise that there wasn’t a stream of timely info.
@@DominicTavernitiGENOCIDE
@@DominicTavernitiGENOCIDE
I remember when water was blue and not green.
Thank you for showing Left Fork and the reservoir area. Would you have the capability of flying over Laurel Ridge community?
I’ll look into it. I have several friends that live in Laurel Ridge. Perhaps I can drive through for a closer look. Drone footage from a distance only shows a portion of what’s actually going on. Thanks for asking.
I don't understand. Why is part of the dam missing? You can compare it to before pictures.
I didn't notice that when filming or even editing. One of the sections at the top if the spillway (not sure if it's called a gate or not) is now laying at the bottom of the spillway.
It is the piece at the bottom of the auxillary spillway, failed as designed
I saw the face too. A Chief, saying hi?
How about Fairview and fines Creek areas?
I haven’t made it to Fairview yet. Hopefully I can get there soon. Thank you for asking!
14:46 - I agree with you....
Notice what happened here (see below)? The design criteria of Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) had always been 34 inches of rain in a 24- hour period. The city lobbied the TVA to 'update' this figure to more 'accurate' numbers, which they did in 2014, and the PMP was lowered to 28.4 inches (the 'point four' is no doubt to show the painstaking accuracy that an engineer of yesteryear, using a slide rule, could never have achieved). Now, has anyone ever heard that 'climate change is causing more severe storms'. Why would a dam renovation project that started in 2017 and was completed in 2021, use forecasted 'worst case scenario' rain estimates that are nearly 20% lower than historical numbers?
The North Fork Water Treatment Plant (NF) has had the privilege of serving the greater Asheville area since 1955. This is the year the dam and water plant were completed. Since that time the North Carolina legislature passed the Dam Safety Law and over the decades supplementary Administrative Codes have been put into place, therefore the NF Dam was required to pass and store the Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) storm event due to its classification as a “very large high hazard” dam. The PMP storm would produce 34 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. The original principal spillway was not able to meet the current regulation without the use of a Flood Operations Plan (FOP). The FOP was a temporary fix until a more permanent solution could be found.
Beginning in 2012, the department began to look at different types of spillway designs and improvements to meet current regulations. Schnabel Engineering had been inspecting the dams for the department and had overseen small improvements. Due to this knowledge and their area of expertise, Schnabel was chosen to provide options and then engineering services (design, pre-qualifying construction companies, bidding, resident engineering services and construction over-sight) for the project. In 2014 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began updating the rain data to provide more accurate PMP values to that region. Schnabel requested that the French Broad River Basin be included in the study, which proved to be a valuable asset to the design team. Once the data was available, the City of Asheville used the information to request an updated PMP amount from NC Dam Safety. The PMP volume went from 34 inches to 28.4 inches for a 24-hour period thus reducing the total volume of water the spillways would need to pass, limit the environmental impact, and reduce construction costs. A labyrinth design was chosen, with the final design being the first Fusegate spillway in North Carolina. This design reduced the spillway width by 100 feet; reducing excavation, construction time and costs.
@danlowe8684 - Thanks so much for sharing. You have a very deep knowledge of this subject. I should have taken you along with me so that I didn't have to speculate beyond the few facts that I have about the reservoir, dam and watershed. Thanks for adding this info to this comment thread.
I thought the rivers flowed north into Tennessee 🤔
Only the French Broad River flows north.
There was never any breach in any water containment structures. People don’t realize that 1 inch of rain in 1 square mile contains 17.4 million gallons. Calculate the square miles of the effected area by 36 inches of rain. Some reports were closer to 48 inches. The smaller number alone is in the trillions of gallons. I lived in The Big Thompson Canyon area outside Loveland Colorado and in 2013 spring snow melt filled the canyon in some places 40 to 50 feet deep. It washed away the highway and everything on both sides of the river from Estes Park to just west of Loveland a distance of almost 30 miles. Water dispersed at Greeley which was another 20 miles. That flood took close to 4 years to just repair the infrastructure. That was a granite and stone lined canyon and not wooded hollows and mountain side. Western NC isn’t prepared for a material weather occurrence of that size. I flew close to 10 fixed wing flights to Hickory and Stateville airports a day after the storm and was shocked it wasn’t worse. Bless the volunteers and the communities in Western North Carolina.
The Amos for making those flights! Doing the math on the rain fall volume is really eye opening. Let’s see if I recall this correctly… I found a stat that WNC area is over 11k square miles. At the minimum estimated fall of 18” in three days in parts of the region, it nets almost 5 trillion gallons. The number would surly be greater. Hard to comprehend.
I see the head and face,too.
Definitely looks like an older gentleman resting at the bottom of the hill. 😮
Research Buckminster Fuller.
Research Buckminster Fuller.
Research Buckminster Fuller.
Agreed. I took a screen capture and searched for his photo and made a collage. It works.
Too close to Noah to be coincidence.
This dam was never in any sort of jeopardy of failure, but It is my understanding that they did open the floodgates fully coming out of the dam because the dam was going to be topped over if they didn't. When a dam gets topped over and water is running over it in an uncontrolled fashion, that is when The foundation of your dam can get compromised thus causing dam failure.
That was my impression. Thanks for the input.
It doesn't have any gates to open. A section of fusegate is completely missing. There wasn't always a giant hole in it. There had to be a failure to wash away all the water lines because there's no other water source there. That would also explain why the water came so fast in Swannanoa. I remember an article somewhere a few years ago where a government agency said the dam wouldn't hold up to an insane amount of rainfall and expensive updates were needed but Asheville and Buncombe County talked their way out of it.
@@danielb5215 a very good point you make there. The following are not my words but a quote:
Each fusegate is set to overturn at a progressively higher reservoir elevation. For the maximum design discharge, usually equivalent to the PMF, all of the fusegates tip and the entire crest length is available to pass the flow.
"Instead of the main dam being damaged or breached, the fusegates are washed away by the lake’s rising floodwaters. At Terminus dam, the type of storm that would cause the fusegates to wash away has a probability of 700 years."
So it is likely that the amount of rainfall caused the reservoir to become completely full and the flow through the fusegate mechanism at the top of the dam caused all of them to open, as per the mechanism. It is most likely that one of the fusegates gave way and allowed full flow through its particular opening based on the picture and/or video given by the content creator here.
I don't remember which video it was I saw showing exactly what you just explained.
They had one gate open on the far end. On the opposite end the water was overflowing faster than it was through the open gate.
The spillway improvement was just completed in 2020.
From the contractor’s website it says, “ the North Fork, spillway and embankment improvements project was designed to update the North Fork reservoir dam, which was originally built in 1955. Advances in technology since it’s construction, allowed the City of Asheville to determine ways to make the damn more resilient in the face of possible, but unlikely storm events. The dam was raised by 4 feet with added buttressing to reinforce seismic stability and the principal spillway was improved while a new auxiliary spillway was constructed.”
A day or so after the storm we were told via radio that the dam was going to collapse imminently. We evacuated our workers and thankfully it was not true. I never did get the scoop on why we were told it was going to fail.
No kidding! Perhaps because the crew was right there near the dam, you received the very first word before they investigated further. That's really terrifying. I'm very thankful the dam wasn't compromised.
Why not build a concrete tunnel under the road instead of metal pipe drainage
That struck me as well. I’m pretty sure we’re looking at a temporary solution while everything is being rebuilt. The pipes under the gravel road can’t possibly be the long term solution here.
Wifie needs an eye exam, I see man too
AGREE 100% about the sediment looking like a portrait of a man 🤔
They opened the dam, that's why everything flooded
wrong
River road
Really does look like somebody's face😂
Thank you. The face actually has much more detail in a lower altitude clip I took, it just didn't make the final video.