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 so much Dominic! It was nice of you to cover this area and show not just the river’s damage but the wind damage to our forested areas. It’s just mind boggling. Love your videos. ❤
Hi Dominic. I'm familiar with this area too - I loved the Warren Wilson river trail. So sad it's been washed away. I wouldn't imagine rebuilding it would be a priority for the college - or for Owen Park (where it begins) . Maybe the community can raise funds to rebuild it. It was a fairly popular trail. The Berea trails across from the Berea Baptist Church on Riceville Road (mostly forest trails) are still usable, from what I could see. That area where the forest was stripped definitely looks like a tornado must have gone through there. That's crazy about the trees being stripped of all their leaves. Very interesting content, Dominic! Keep them coming!
I know. I hiked those trails from Owen Park with my son many times. They seemed to have their own little ecosystem right down by the river and shrouded in trees (bamboo in some places). I look forward to seeing them rebuilt at some point.
Thank you, sir, for the detailed documentation on Helene's monumental effects of nature's damages, thereby making it invaluable to how this disaster impacted its residents.
Thank you. Your videos are very informative. It helps to get a better picture of the area and the damaged. I live i Florida and no stranger to hurricanes. I find it very odd that a hurricane remained that powerful 600 hundred miles inland. It also looks like there was tornado damage to a lot of those trees.
There are many reports of tornados throughout the region. But in areas like this, it sounds like the wind was funneled by the high mountains. So what was a 60-70mph sustained wind, was forced through tight valleys and the speeds picked up substantially. I live nearby in the Swannanoa valley and when we get 30mph winds, it's not uncommon to get 70+mph gusts.
I like how you navigated your tour and referred back to the map. It made visual easier. Your description of the drone's point-of-view also excellent. Thank you for this informative video.
Thanks so much for the feedback! I’m trying to provide a level of detail and orientation that is helpful to our communities and those not very familiar with the area. It’s not a very sensational approach, but that’s also intentional. Thanks again.
Thanks Dominic for taking the time to go over that way and filming. All I can say is Wow, what should be a blanket of green draped across the mountain is barren. I'm seeing the pictures but the extent is hard to fathom. My wife's dad grew up on Riceville road in the 30s-40s, her grandparents house and parents house are still in the family and luckily is in the lower part of the valley, as are other parts of her family cousins, aunts and uncles etc, which appears to not suffered as much damage. We've taken that road down Warren Wilson and made the turn onto Riceville Rd countless times. Very much appreciate you taking your time to do this. I've been working out in Dallas, TX and was back at my house for the week in Greenville, SC when the storm hit. I had to head back out to Dallas so I have not had a chance to get back there since early October so I haven't had a chance to get up there.
I’m glad you found the video. You’re exactly the person I’m hoping to reach with this content. I found that there were enough shocking videos set to emotional music out there, but few with a level of detail to inform people that need and want to see what’s going on in a specific area. Thanks again for the comment.
I have donated to the United Cajun Navy , Asheville , NC for relief efforts also have been down to that area many times thru the years , beautiful country.....Thank you for the vlog , i have been following you all down there.....
So glad you took time to actually identify the areas in which you were recording! I wish everyone could do that. Grew up in WNC, live about 60 miles south now. Really hate what has happened there. So hard to believe it. Thanks you!
@DominicTaverniti Indeed. A little group of us Atlanta EMS personnel brought a tractor trailer full of food and various supplies 2 weeks after. I'm not from that area, so I had no frame of reference at the time. Holy cow. You've been doing amazing work documenting that area. Keep it up. The commentary explaining what "is" and what "was" is so good. Praying for you guys up there.
Thank you Dominic. Blown over trees reminds me of Mt St Helens after it blew it's top back in 1980. We visited there 2 months afterwards and trees flattened to the ground millions of them. Lake pyramid had thousands of floating tree logs. Ash everywhere even brought some back home. The forests have grown back now after agressive tree planting 35 years ago.
I binge watched footage of Mt St Helen just a couple months ago. Your right. The downed trees and images of Lake Lure being filled with debris is very reminiscent of that event. Even the fine silt left from the flooding has a parallel to the ash. Of course the scale of the two events aren’t even close. But given the populated regions that Helene affected, the financial damage to man made structures and the death toll aren’t comparable either.
Thank you Charles. I hope your family and property fared well. I haven’t driven all the way up Bull Creek since moving to the area 8 years ago. At the time, I wasn’t even aware how close the Parkway was. It’s a magical place. I’m sure it’ll be a long, challenging recovery/transition after the storm.
@DominicTaverniti Hi Dominic! Yes, my family and I and safe; we suffered no property damage. Thank you for your wishes. Thank you for your effort(s) during this difficult time....much appreciated!
Thanks for these videos. I consider your excellent detail on where you are filming to be a historical record of what happened when Helene hit this area. It would be interesting to come back in a couple of years to see how the landscape has recovered and what changes became a permanent marker. There weren't drones or videos back in the day, but I have seen pictures taken after the 1916 flood in Western North Carolina and the damage was extensive.
Thank you for your videos. I live in Michigan and the destruction in your neck of the woods is unbelievable. My prayers will continue for all of you affected by this devastating storm.
😭😭😭the trees. I live in botany woods and hike shopes and this area a bunch. I haven’t had a heart to go there since the storm but I really appreciate the time and effort to cover what’s happened here in Helene. 💔
It might be therapeutic. Maybe bring some work gloves. I'm sure the neighbors could find something to keep you busy. Kidding of course. Go when you're ready.
Thanks for the videos! Just past the river footage you took on Old Farm School Rd, the river runs around the neighborhood of Botany Woods before heading toward Old 70. Many full-sized homes there were ripped from the land and were swept down the river.
I live in Leicester, NC; thankfully spared from traumatic damage... I work as a bartender where I am fortunate enough to be working again in North Asheville! I hear so many stories from my guests who tell me that the way their trees were twisted around that there must have been a tornado. My mom also lives in Leicester, NC and had trees in her yard that were ripped up right next to each other in completely opposite directions! How does that even happen if it wasn't a tornado? We were lucky to not flood here but I'm pretty sure there were tornadoes all over the place that early Friday morning. I was barricading myself behind my couch only to learn weeks later that a woman was found safe after a deluge demolished her house and she was found down the hill pinned up against another building under her couch! Just frightening and horrific! 😢😮
Thanks for sharing. I think the story of the women pinned in her house was from this debris slide that I covered in Grovemont, in Swannanoa. ruclips.net/video/4zh4dm_5tmI/видео.html
Where Riceville Rd was repaired (near the Fire Dept), the creek that runs along Parker Rd turned into two creeks. One ran through the culverts under Riceville Rd, and the other ran over the road, washing some/much of it out. I live pretty close to there. Love the videos.
I live in Asheville. Something that isn't being covered in the news is that eviction court is already putting out eviction notices. There are calls for a 90 moratorium on mortgages....spread the news. It's insane they are going ahead with evictions after this, especially now that it's the winter
I have been looking for news of this area, thank you so much. I lived off of Bull Creek Road some 50 years ago., actually right past the Hughey cemetery.
Thanks Dominic. Myself and my girlfriend stayed at an Airbnb then entire month of September on Jones Cove Rd off of Bull Creek . That bridge was completely washed away. I believe it's Shopes Creek there. That Friday the neighbor's house on Jones Cove burned to the ground...not sure if she was burning candles or using a propane stove (no electric power of course) . She had a private drive and once the locals opened her gated driveway on Saturday we were able to make it onto several other connecting private unpaved drives and snake our way out to Parker Dr to the east then to Riceville Rd just past the firehouse then out to Tunnel Rd and make our way back home to Nashville the long way headed south to Bryson City to Chattanooga. We just loved making that drive down Warren Wilson with it's beautiful vistas to Swannanoa .Very sad to see the destruction.
Thanks for leaving the comment. I did take a side trip up Jones Cove and saw the burned house you mentioned. It looked like it had brick or cinder block walls, because that's all that was left. What a tragedy to loose your entire house after surviving the storm.
@@DominicTaverniti yes ..the fire station less than a mile away but helpless without the bridge access. No way to call for help either of course. The locals told us of the devastation to the north. I must be a magnet for disaster floods. I'm originally from Central PA and we had Agnes floods in '72 ...then here in Nashville in 2010 and now Asheville 🤔.
Thanks for sharing. That would be absolutely wild if a tornado crossed over the east ridge of this valley, stayed touched down across the valley, up the west ridge and down again on the Haw Creek side. That's about a 1,300 foot elevation change from ridge to valley floor. I never considered that a tornado could adapt to elevation changes like that.
The clean up and forest managnement is huge.I hope call in olympia, wash state for help from mount st helens eruption after replanting.NC gov't in this situation just overwhelming. Thanks video update.😮
The road that washed away by the fire station was a 30 foot wide river that formed. The fire station had a foot or more of mud throughout the whole building. The Saturday after the storm, there were rescue boats that were attempting to go upstream since that river was still flowing and large enough at the time, in order to rescue and get supplies to the people in Bull Creek who couldn't escape since the bridge had collapsed.
Thanks so much for filling the details on this area. It's impossible now to imagine what the conditions were at the time. Rescue boats being able to go up is really hard to comprehend at this point.
@DominicTaverniti I have videos I would be happy to send, both there at the bull creek farm, as well as on Warren Wilson road where the Swannanoa River crosses, taken on Fri the 28th in the afternoon. Was wild.
My wife's family has a house not to far from the Community Center/Fire Station..I cant imagine the creek that wide... .if you know any Clark's in the area they are probably my wife's kin folk.
The Billy Graham Training Center has been the headquarters for Samaritan's Purse operation in the region. With that, I believe it's in great operating order - spare downed trees and perhaps some mudslides.
My old stomping grounds - spent 3 days cutting trees in Bull Creek valley after the storm. Never have I seen wind destruction like this. Insane. I also went on this little gravel road you show at the end (Day 4-5 after the storm) but you could barely see the houses at that point so many downed trees everywhere. Had a feeling the upper elevations of the valley would be even worse, but now that the leaves are dying off you can really tell the scope. Thanks for documenting this tremendous sadness. Used to be one of the most beautiful valleys in the area. Not sure what to do with all of the fuel in the woods? We need to get this taken care off or the next disaster is only a question of time.
Thanks so much for putting your cutting skills and equipment to work here! Within the first several days of the storm, I had put more time in chain sawing than I had my entire life (and learned to properly hand sharpen a blade out of necessity). I may go back and check higher elevations. Thanks for the comment.
This is great! will you be covering Riverbend Dr and Driftwood that are areas just beyond Old Farm School Rd on the Swannanoa. This is where my house used to be...
The devastation of trees from the wind reminds me of a scene from where I live (Victoria Australia) after a bushfire. Complete decimation of the landscape. You wonder how it can ever recover😢
No doubt it will take years to recover. I also have not doubt that it will. In the meantime, it’ll be a very different place. Speaking of fires, this volume of fuel laying around will be increase risks for the region if it can’t be managed before too long (I wonder what the lead time is for removing dead trees?).
If you get back to this area, and you get some drone footage of lower grassy between old Farmville Road and 70, there are two streets in a neighborhood called Botany Woods that lost almost almost all of the homes there. Down to pieces of foundation. It would be interesting to see drone footage from that intersection to 70. We miss our house.
Sad to see so much damage to the forest in some areas. As you suggested, it seems that the wind was focused on certain slopes by the surrounding topography. What type of trees were knocked down? I wonder what they will do with the wood.
Trees of all kind in the region went down, from hardwood to evergreens. I’m not very familiar with all of the species in our area, but I’ve seen a lot of oak, hickory, walnut, poplar, etc. To reduce volume, chipping and incinerating are the two main options. There’s just so much biomass, it’ll be a long time before it’s reduced enough to not be a main fixture of the landscape.
@ I noticed quite a few neatly stacked logs from the tree trunks on the sides of the roads in your videos, so I hope they are going to use that lumber for for something more valuable than making wood chips. Prime hardwood lumber must be useful.
I didn't hear any first hand accounts of tornadoes in this particular area, but have talked to people that did witness them in their communities. I sounds like they were being spawned all over the place.
Swain County deforestation is becoming more evident since the leaves have fallen. I work in Graham County and 3 trees fell on the road into work since 8 am this morning. (No rain, basic fall day conditions too)
That mass tree downing on the hills looks like a Micro Burst hit there. There is an image, I cannot find it off hand, that shows Helene from a distance as it sat over the mountains and you can see the classic Micro Burst
Thank you for the kind words. Regarding a tornado, I just don't know. I would imagine they were being spawned all over the place. Perhaps the wind was compressed in this area and at extreme speeds it did most of the damage and then eddied (the only description I can think of) or tighter vortex/tornados were spun off from the topography. NOTE: This is all just conjecture as I try to make sense of what I'm witnessing. It doesn't map to what I've seen before. Your guess is as good as mine.
All the property along Bull Creek Rd is private property and does not offer hiking to or off of the Parkway. There are hiking trails at the head of Shope Creek off Shope Creek Rd. Thank you for your video of the damage, and I thought that Golden Retriever looked familiar! We have just had more people trying to hike off the Parkway and ending up at people's homes in the past years when they get lost.
Great info! Thank you. I imagine hikers fan out all over the mountains, despite there being more than enough official trails to explore. After one of your neighbors offered that I could drive up the private road, I stopped and spoke with the owner of that golden retriever. She was very nice and shared her experience during the storm. It sounded absolutely terrifying to be in the middle of the wind that came through there. I hope your family and property fared well!
@DominicTaverniti They are wonderful and friendly people! The property up above we had select cut for forestry land when those homes were built almost 20 years ago, but what the wind did completely changed the forest.
I really appreciate your videos, Dominic. Have you done any of Henderson County and Transylvania? Even Mills River had floods. My area had 30 inches with many trees down including substation.
I haven't filmed Henderson County or Transylvania yet. Thank you for the suggestions. I'm balancing time and cost, but hope to keep working my way out further.
I don't know if it's beneficial in the long run, but those covered fields might eventually have just been given a new layer of soil. Maybe a cover crop to aid retention and some nitrogen fixing. I don't know what that sediment consists of, maybe mostly clay and fine particulates. But I would expect some organics from vegetation and leaf matter too. It looks bad, but is it?
You're right about the river dropping a lot of nutrients in the fields. On the positive side, field like that in our area are the beneficiary of getting replenished by the river. They're also subject to loosing an entire season of crops when the river jumps its banks. In the long run, they'll benefit.
It's a great question, with a pretty complicated answer I'm sure. Debris removal is going to be a very long process. I'd imagine, as much as possible will be directed to industries that can use it, the waist will be chipped and incinerated to reduce volume. Of course all of this requires tremendous resources, fuel, manpower, and open space. It'll take time to gather everything together.
Looks like an intense downburst or gust from above that hit and then was deflected into the lower terrain cleaving off dirt and trees. It may have been wind and a massive downpour too. But not just a little water. Like a wind saturated with water, heavy and cold coming down from thousands of feet above after being lifted by the Storm and then carried upward into the mountain. The uplift of the mountain would cause the warm, water laden air of the TS remnant to rise suddenly over just a five to ten mile horizontal run northward, but pushing it all up an additional 5-8 thousand feet in altitude. It's cold up there and the resulting of that physics is that that water and air cooled rapidly and fell back Earthward.
That waterline seen from Old Farm school was damaged prior to 2020 from previous flood and not inuse. It could have been a wasteline, I thought it was a water line that had been previously rerouted before damage.
Thank you for sharing. After spending several weeks around the flooding damage of Swannanoa River and elsewhere, I was really surprised to see the entirely different type of destruction in your neighborhood. Clean up appears to be under way, but it must feel like it’ll never end given the scope of damage. Please know that our communities up and down the Swannanoa Valley are anxious to help.
I do not know what type of wood this is but if it's long and straight enough perhaps you could use it for building log homes. I hope they can find good use for this logs on this ground instead of just letting them go to waste like they did at the The boundary Waters in Minnesota. There was a lot of boardwalks when they would not let people clean up those woods. I know it has been like that for over 20 years it is prime for a very big forest fire ever ever hits the boundary Waters canoe area in Minnesota. But here in North Carolina will make some nice dog homes if you can salvage the would. God bless and speedy recovery 🙏🙏🕊️
Thanks for comment and insight. It appears that a lot of large trunks are being prepped for use elsewhere. Maybe it's just easiest to transport them when they're uniform, but I get the sense they have a destination other than burn and grinding.
@RobinDuke-h6 - I hear you. I've received several other similar requests as well. In fact, I've already filmed it, being just a quarter miles from my house. But the footage and approach isn't the appropriate caliber for such a meaningful place. I'll capture it again and post before Veterans Day. Thank you for asking!
@RobinDuke-h6l - I released a video of the VA cemetery - ruclips.net/video/K_nvymZLv3E/видео.html. The grounds are in great shape. I hope this is helpful.
I have a question! How many rivers are there? Seems like about a dozen!! It’s crazy the amount of damage to the trees from the wind!! Unreal!! I just wanna say that you all say creek I say crick! lol no shaming or judging I just wanted to say that!
Ha. I may be in the minority on my pronunciation. There are a countless rivers, cricks, brooks and tributaries reaching through all of the watersheds here. The land area of Western North Carolina is a bit over 11k square miles, and most of it mountainous. What's crazy about this storm is that new channels of water were created, in addition to all the existing ones, to handle the volume of water. Full size rivers popped up where no water path previously existed. Of course they're completely gone now.
@ well I dontlive there nor ever have an I’m the minority of my word crick. It’s how we say it here in northern panhandle of west Virginia /Pittsburgh yinz area!! The power of water is unreal we have flash floods here now and again from water running off the hill sides and etc nothing compared to what you all experienced but I’ve seen the damage it can do! In 2004 we got hurricane (Ian??) an it was nothing like we’ve ever had an the damage was wide spread . So much rain our hills couldn’t handle it. But I was curious bout how many rivers you have it seems like a lot we have one big river here. The Ohio in all of its filth! Not like you’re beautiful mountains rivers. But we do have beautiful creeks that make up for that river! Thank you for your content and he safe doing your videos. Peace
“Right of way” usually means the area on either side along a public road that the government (city, county, state) retains the right to use, e.g. to widen the road, and is generally required to maintain (mow, etc). So, this does not include areas along private roads or driveways.
Thanks for the feedback. I had researched right of ways, and read a definition pertaining to easements on private properties. Perhaps I read that entirely wrong.
@ You are also right (no pun intended 😉) that private easements are a kind of ‘right of way’, held by private entities, but those aren’t the responsibility of Buncombe County or State of NC. Thank you so much for all your work documenting the awful destruction in Helene’s wake! Just drove through Swannanoa yesterday; still massive evidence of the flooding everywhere! Recovery will continue to take a lot of money, hard work, and time. Your videos help spread the word that W NC is still in crisis, and still needs much help. Thanks again!
Shope Creek, like so many others, must have been incredibly high to take out the bridge across Bull Creek Rd. Sorry to hear about the flooding and damage.
I would worry that all that down wood will sit and dry out and if you have a dry Spring and Summer, then there is a wildfire risk. A lot of readily combustible material let's say August of 2025?
Are you actually allowed to videotape the Blue ridge parkway because if you are I would love to see a video from the first overlooked down to the old folk art center
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
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 so much Dominic! It was nice of you to cover this area and show not just the river’s damage but the wind damage to our forested areas. It’s just mind boggling. Love your videos. ❤
Thanks again for your feedback and appreciation!
They need FEMA to hire portable sawmills to turn the downed trees into lumber. People really need roofs over their heads.
Not from your area. Truly devastating and heartbreaking to see. Hoping everyday brings you all a step closer to recovery.
As an AVL resident, your series of videos are an excellent overview for everyone. Thank you for putting in the time to present this information.
Thank you for the feedback and encouragement.
Thankyou Dominic for helping evryone understand the severity of the devistation .still praying and sending good vibs from Ontario Canada
Hi Dominic. I'm familiar with this area too - I loved the Warren Wilson river trail. So sad it's been washed away. I wouldn't imagine rebuilding it would be a priority for the college - or for Owen Park (where it begins) . Maybe the community can raise funds to rebuild it. It was a fairly popular trail. The Berea trails across from the Berea Baptist Church on Riceville Road (mostly forest trails) are still usable, from what I could see. That area where the forest was stripped definitely looks like a tornado must have gone through there. That's crazy about the trees being stripped of all their leaves.
Very interesting content, Dominic! Keep them coming!
I know. I hiked those trails from Owen Park with my son many times. They seemed to have their own little ecosystem right down by the river and shrouded in trees (bamboo in some places). I look forward to seeing them rebuilt at some point.
@@DominicTaverniti Yes! The bamboo "forest" is awesome! I hope it's still there but probably not.
Thank you, sir, for the detailed documentation on Helene's monumental effects of nature's damages, thereby making it invaluable to how this disaster impacted its residents.
Thank you. Your videos are very informative. It helps to get a better picture of the area and the damaged. I live i Florida and no stranger to hurricanes. I find it very odd that a hurricane remained that powerful 600 hundred miles inland. It also looks like there was tornado damage to a lot of those trees.
There are many reports of tornados throughout the region. But in areas like this, it sounds like the wind was funneled by the high mountains. So what was a 60-70mph sustained wind, was forced through tight valleys and the speeds picked up substantially. I live nearby in the Swannanoa valley and when we get 30mph winds, it's not uncommon to get 70+mph gusts.
I like how you navigated your tour and referred back to the map. It made visual easier. Your description of the drone's point-of-view also excellent.
Thank you for this informative video.
Thanks so much for the feedback! I’m trying to provide a level of detail and orientation that is helpful to our communities and those not very familiar with the area. It’s not a very sensational approach, but that’s also intentional. Thanks again.
Thanks Dominic for taking the time to go over that way and filming. All I can say is Wow, what should be a blanket of green draped across the mountain is barren. I'm seeing the pictures but the extent is hard to fathom. My wife's dad grew up on Riceville road in the 30s-40s, her grandparents house and parents house are still in the family and luckily is in the lower part of the valley, as are other parts of her family cousins, aunts and uncles etc, which appears to not suffered as much damage. We've taken that road down Warren Wilson and made the turn onto Riceville Rd countless times. Very much appreciate you taking your time to do this. I've been working out in Dallas, TX and was back at my house for the week in Greenville, SC when the storm hit. I had to head back out to Dallas so I have not had a chance to get back there since early October so I haven't had a chance to get up there.
I’m glad you found the video. You’re exactly the person I’m hoping to reach with this content. I found that there were enough shocking videos set to emotional music out there, but few with a level of detail to inform people that need and want to see what’s going on in a specific area. Thanks again for the comment.
I have donated to the United Cajun Navy , Asheville , NC for relief efforts also have been down to that area many times thru the years , beautiful country.....Thank you for the vlog , i have been following you all down there.....
Thank you so much for opening your heart and donating to our area. I know the Cajun Navy will put it to great use.
So glad you took time to actually identify the areas in which you were recording! I wish everyone could do that. Grew up in WNC, live about 60 miles south now. Really hate what has happened there. So hard to believe it. Thanks you!
Thanks for the feedback.
Thank you. Grew up there and now on burnsville side. This goes on through other states too. How sad. Complete ecosystems and families gone
Thank you, Dominic.
My pleasure. I hope if was informative.
@DominicTaverniti Indeed. A little group of us Atlanta EMS personnel brought a tractor trailer full of food and various supplies 2 weeks after. I'm not from that area, so I had no frame of reference at the time. Holy cow. You've been doing amazing work documenting that area. Keep it up. The commentary explaining what "is" and what "was" is so good. Praying for you guys up there.
Thank you Dominic. Blown over trees reminds me of Mt St Helens after it blew it's top back in 1980. We visited there 2 months afterwards and trees flattened to the ground millions of them. Lake pyramid had thousands of floating tree logs. Ash everywhere even brought some back home. The forests have grown back now after agressive tree planting 35 years ago.
I binge watched footage of Mt St Helen just a couple months ago. Your right. The downed trees and images of Lake Lure being filled with debris is very reminiscent of that event. Even the fine silt left from the flooding has a parallel to the ash. Of course the scale of the two events aren’t even close. But given the populated regions that Helene affected, the financial damage to man made structures and the death toll aren’t comparable either.
Thank you so much for this video! This is my neighborhood. Also, appreciate your previous videos.
Thank you Charles. I hope your family and property fared well. I haven’t driven all the way up Bull Creek since moving to the area 8 years ago. At the time, I wasn’t even aware how close the Parkway was. It’s a magical place. I’m sure it’ll be a long, challenging recovery/transition after the storm.
@DominicTaverniti Hi Dominic! Yes, my family and I and safe; we suffered no property damage. Thank you for your wishes. Thank you for your effort(s) during this difficult time....much appreciated!
Thanks for these videos. I consider your excellent detail on where you are filming to be a historical record of what happened when Helene hit this area. It would be interesting to come back in a couple of years to see how the landscape has recovered and what changes became a permanent marker. There weren't drones or videos back in the day, but I have seen pictures taken after the 1916 flood in Western North Carolina and the damage was extensive.
Thank you for your videos. I live in Michigan and the destruction in your neck of the woods is unbelievable. My prayers will continue for all of you affected by this devastating storm.
😭😭😭the trees.
I live in botany woods and hike shopes and this area a bunch. I haven’t had a heart to go there since the storm but I really appreciate the time and effort to cover what’s happened here in Helene. 💔
It might be therapeutic. Maybe bring some work gloves. I'm sure the neighbors could find something to keep you busy. Kidding of course. Go when you're ready.
Thank U for your fine and considered work and share, DT.
We'll keep checkin' in.
Be Well
Thanks for the videos! Just past the river footage you took on Old Farm School Rd, the river runs around the neighborhood of Botany Woods before heading toward Old 70. Many full-sized homes there were ripped from the land and were swept down the river.
I've received a number of other comments about that area. I'll have to go take a look.
Thank you for all the details and updates.
I live in Leicester, NC; thankfully spared from traumatic damage... I work as a bartender where I am fortunate enough to be working again in North Asheville! I hear so many stories from my guests who tell me that the way their trees were twisted around that there must have been a tornado. My mom also lives in Leicester, NC and had trees in her yard that were ripped up right next to each other in completely opposite directions! How does that even happen if it wasn't a tornado? We were lucky to not flood here but I'm pretty sure there were tornadoes all over the place that early Friday morning. I was barricading myself behind my couch only to learn weeks later that a woman was found safe after a deluge demolished her house and she was found down the hill pinned up against another building under her couch! Just frightening and horrific! 😢😮
Thanks for sharing. I think the story of the women pinned in her house was from this debris slide that I covered in Grovemont, in Swannanoa. ruclips.net/video/4zh4dm_5tmI/видео.html
Thanks for the video Dominic.
Very informative video
Thank you
I appreciate your coverage of this. Well done. Thank you. Be safe out there.
Thanks for the kind words.
Where Riceville Rd was repaired (near the Fire Dept), the creek that runs along Parker Rd turned into two creeks. One ran through the culverts under Riceville Rd, and the other ran over the road, washing some/much of it out. I live pretty close to there. Love the videos.
Thank you for the detail. I saw the culverts just down on the right, but didn't quite connect the two. Water was carving new paths all over the place.
Thank you for this video. I used to live off of Riceville Road, then lived off of New Salem Road in Swannanoa.
You're very welcome. I hope the video was helpful in understanding how this area fared.
I live in Asheville. Something that isn't being covered in the news is that eviction court is already putting out eviction notices. There are calls for a 90 moratorium on mortgages....spread the news. It's insane they are going ahead with evictions after this, especially now that it's the winter
Asheville is hub for satanic human traffickering. Tunnels everywhere. Biltmore Estate Biltmore village
I have been looking for news of this area, thank you so much. I lived off of Bull Creek Road some 50 years ago., actually right past the Hughey cemetery.
Wow, 50 years ago. Storm damage aside, I can only imagine the changes to this area since that time.
Dominic's Outstanding reporting on the situation is needed and he should work with rescue and recovery ; his style is without lack . ty Dominic .
Many thanks for the compliment! I have worked with search and rescue in the past - perhaps some of that thought process coming out here.
Insightful with good documentation.
Subscribed, no telling if, or when YT will send a notification.
Thanks Dominic. Myself and my girlfriend stayed at an Airbnb then entire month of September on Jones Cove Rd off of Bull Creek . That bridge was completely washed away. I believe it's Shopes Creek there. That Friday the neighbor's house on Jones Cove burned to the ground...not sure if she was burning candles or using a propane stove (no electric power of course) . She had a private drive and once the locals opened her gated driveway on Saturday we were able to make it onto several other connecting private unpaved drives and snake our way out to Parker Dr to the east then to Riceville Rd just past the firehouse then out to Tunnel Rd and make our way back home to Nashville the long way headed south to Bryson City to Chattanooga. We just loved making that drive down Warren Wilson with it's beautiful vistas to Swannanoa .Very sad to see the destruction.
Thanks for leaving the comment. I did take a side trip up Jones Cove and saw the burned house you mentioned. It looked like it had brick or cinder block walls, because that's all that was left. What a tragedy to loose your entire house after surviving the storm.
@@DominicTaverniti yes ..the fire station less than a mile away but helpless without the bridge access. No way to call for help either of course. The locals told us of the devastation to the north. I must be a magnet for disaster floods. I'm originally from Central PA and we had Agnes floods in '72 ...then here in Nashville in 2010 and now Asheville 🤔.
The Haw Creek side of the Parkway has a wind path that meets up along the area show on the Bull Creek side, almost like a tornado path.
Thanks for sharing. That would be absolutely wild if a tornado crossed over the east ridge of this valley, stayed touched down across the valley, up the west ridge and down again on the Haw Creek side. That's about a 1,300 foot elevation change from ridge to valley floor. I never considered that a tornado could adapt to elevation changes like that.
Thx so much. Great info
The clean up and forest managnement is huge.I hope call in olympia, wash state for help from mount st helens eruption after replanting.NC gov't in this situation just overwhelming. Thanks video update.😮
Another great video. Thanks.
There is a lot of forest flattened out throughout WNC. It's rather devastating to see. I hope nature recuperates fast!!
The road that washed away by the fire station was a 30 foot wide river that formed. The fire station had a foot or more of mud throughout the whole building. The Saturday after the storm, there were rescue boats that were attempting to go upstream since that river was still flowing and large enough at the time, in order to rescue and get supplies to the people in Bull Creek who couldn't escape since the bridge had collapsed.
Thanks so much for filling the details on this area. It's impossible now to imagine what the conditions were at the time. Rescue boats being able to go up is really hard to comprehend at this point.
@DominicTaverniti I have videos I would be happy to send, both there at the bull creek farm, as well as on Warren Wilson road where the Swannanoa River crosses, taken on Fri the 28th in the afternoon. Was wild.
My wife's family has a house not to far from the Community Center/Fire Station..I cant imagine the creek that wide... .if you know any Clark's in the area they are probably my wife's kin folk.
That area is to the East of the N-S line of the ridge of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It took a direct hit from the winds coming from the East.
Almost too traumatic to watch! But I really want to know how everyone was affected so thank you!
Would you please do a drone coverage of the area around Billy Graham Training Center exit 55 off I-40? We have spent much time there volunteering.
The Billy Graham Training Center has been the headquarters for Samaritan's Purse operation in the region. With that, I believe it's in great operating order - spare downed trees and perhaps some mudslides.
My old stomping grounds - spent 3 days cutting trees in Bull Creek valley after the storm. Never have I seen wind destruction like this. Insane. I also went on this little gravel road you show at the end (Day 4-5 after the storm) but you could barely see the houses at that point so many downed trees everywhere. Had a feeling the upper elevations of the valley would be even worse, but now that the leaves are dying off you can really tell the scope. Thanks for documenting this tremendous sadness. Used to be one of the most beautiful valleys in the area. Not sure what to do with all of the fuel in the woods? We need to get this taken care off or the next disaster is only a question of time.
Thanks so much for putting your cutting skills and equipment to work here! Within the first several days of the storm, I had put more time in chain sawing than I had my entire life (and learned to properly hand sharpen a blade out of necessity). I may go back and check higher elevations.
Thanks for the comment.
This is great! will you be covering Riverbend Dr and Driftwood that are areas just beyond Old Farm School Rd on the Swannanoa. This is where my house used to be...
Thanks for the request. I haven't been there yet, or ever. It looks like an interesting spot. I'll see if I can get over there at some point.
The devastation of trees from the wind reminds me of a scene from where I live (Victoria Australia) after a bushfire. Complete decimation of the landscape. You wonder how it can ever recover😢
No doubt it will take years to recover. I also have not doubt that it will. In the meantime, it’ll be a very different place. Speaking of fires, this volume of fuel laying around will be increase risks for the region if it can’t be managed before too long (I wonder what the lead time is for removing dead trees?).
If you get back to this area, and you get some drone footage of lower grassy between old Farmville Road and 70, there are two streets in a neighborhood called Botany Woods that lost almost almost all of the homes there. Down to pieces of foundation. It would be interesting to see drone footage from that intersection to 70. We miss our house.
Thank you for the recommendation. I'll add it to my list of places to capture.
Sad to see so much damage to the forest in some areas. As you suggested, it seems that the wind was focused on certain slopes by the surrounding topography. What type of trees were knocked down? I wonder what they will do with the wood.
Trees of all kind in the region went down, from hardwood to evergreens. I’m not very familiar with all of the species in our area, but I’ve seen a lot of oak, hickory, walnut, poplar, etc. To reduce volume, chipping and incinerating are the two main options. There’s just so much biomass, it’ll be a long time before it’s reduced enough to not be a main fixture of the landscape.
@ I noticed quite a few neatly stacked logs from the tree trunks on the sides of the roads in your videos, so I hope they are going to use that lumber for for something more valuable than making wood chips. Prime hardwood lumber must be useful.
If I’m not mistaken there were multiple tornadoes that did touch down during this storm across multiple mountains.
I didn't hear any first hand accounts of tornadoes in this particular area, but have talked to people that did witness them in their communities. I sounds like they were being spawned all over the place.
Swain County deforestation is becoming more evident since the leaves have fallen. I work in Graham County and 3 trees fell on the road into work since 8 am this morning. (No rain, basic fall day conditions too)
That mass tree downing on the hills looks like a Micro Burst hit there. There is an image, I cannot find it off hand, that shows Helene from a distance as it sat over the mountains and you can see the classic Micro Burst
Yes, I've seen I photo just like the one you described.
That pipe along the Swannanoa river around 9 minutes in I believe was waste water and has been out of use for many years If I’m not mistaken.
Thanks for the insight.
I really appreciate your reporting style. Do you think the damage such as shown at 19:20 is tornado damage? Thanks!
Thank you for the kind words. Regarding a tornado, I just don't know. I would imagine they were being spawned all over the place. Perhaps the wind was compressed in this area and at extreme speeds it did most of the damage and then eddied (the only description I can think of) or tighter vortex/tornados were spun off from the topography. NOTE: This is all just conjecture as I try to make sense of what I'm witnessing. It doesn't map to what I've seen before. Your guess is as good as mine.
All the property along Bull Creek Rd is private property and does not offer hiking to or off of the Parkway. There are hiking trails at the head of Shope Creek off Shope Creek Rd. Thank you for your video of the damage, and I thought that Golden Retriever looked familiar! We have just had more people trying to hike off the Parkway and ending up at people's homes in the past years when they get lost.
Great info! Thank you. I imagine hikers fan out all over the mountains, despite there being more than enough official trails to explore. After one of your neighbors offered that I could drive up the private road, I stopped and spoke with the owner of that golden retriever. She was very nice and shared her experience during the storm. It sounded absolutely terrifying to be in the middle of the wind that came through there. I hope your family and property fared well!
@DominicTaverniti They are wonderful and friendly people! The property up above we had select cut for forestry land when those homes were built almost 20 years ago, but what the wind did completely changed the forest.
With little roots mass to hold the hillsides together, heavy rains could trigger more landslides.
I really appreciate your videos, Dominic. Have you done any of Henderson County and Transylvania? Even Mills River had floods. My area had 30 inches with many trees down including substation.
I haven't filmed Henderson County or Transylvania yet. Thank you for the suggestions. I'm balancing time and cost, but hope to keep working my way out further.
I don't know if it's beneficial in the long run, but those covered fields might eventually have just been given a new layer of soil. Maybe a cover crop to aid retention and some nitrogen fixing. I don't know what that sediment consists of, maybe mostly clay and fine particulates. But I would expect some organics from vegetation and leaf matter too. It looks bad, but is it?
You're right about the river dropping a lot of nutrients in the fields. On the positive side, field like that in our area are the beneficiary of getting replenished by the river. They're also subject to loosing an entire season of crops when the river jumps its banks. In the long run, they'll benefit.
How will the forest damage be cleared and trees replaced? Not sure how to phrase the question.
It's a great question, with a pretty complicated answer I'm sure. Debris removal is going to be a very long process. I'd imagine, as much as possible will be directed to industries that can use it, the waist will be chipped and incinerated to reduce volume. Of course all of this requires tremendous resources, fuel, manpower, and open space. It'll take time to gather everything together.
Looks like an intense downburst or gust from above that hit and then was deflected into the lower terrain cleaving off dirt and trees. It may have been wind and a massive downpour too. But not just a little water.
Like a wind saturated with water, heavy and cold coming down from thousands of feet above after being lifted by the Storm and then carried upward into the mountain. The uplift of the mountain would cause the warm, water laden air of the TS remnant to rise suddenly over just a five to ten mile horizontal run northward, but pushing it all up an additional 5-8 thousand feet in altitude. It's cold up there and the resulting of that physics is that that water and air cooled rapidly and fell back Earthward.
Great explanation. The dynamics of an already complex hurricane were only multiplied when hitting the mountains. I have a lot to learn about weather.
That waterline seen from Old Farm school was damaged prior to 2020 from previous flood and not inuse. It could have been a wasteline, I thought it was a water line that had been previously rerouted before damage.
Thanks for clarifying. There was something about a different section further down the river that made me question if it was active.
This is my neighborhood. That morning we had no idea of the extent but when we tried to get out there was no egress
Thank you for sharing. After spending several weeks around the flooding damage of Swannanoa River and elsewhere, I was really surprised to see the entirely different type of destruction in your neighborhood. Clean up appears to be under way, but it must feel like it’ll never end given the scope of damage. Please know that our communities up and down the Swannanoa Valley are anxious to help.
I do not know what type of wood this is but if it's long and straight enough perhaps you could use it for building log homes. I hope they can find good use for this logs on this ground instead of just letting them go to waste like they did at the The boundary Waters in Minnesota. There was a lot of boardwalks when they would not let people clean up those woods. I know it has been like that for over 20 years it is prime for a very big forest fire ever ever hits the boundary Waters canoe area in Minnesota. But here in North Carolina will make some nice dog homes if you can salvage the would. God bless and speedy recovery 🙏🙏🕊️
Thanks for comment and insight. It appears that a lot of large trunks are being prepped for use elsewhere. Maybe it's just easiest to transport them when they're uniform, but I get the sense they have a destination other than burn and grinding.
I would li,e to see the va cemetary please
@RobinDuke-h6 - I hear you. I've received several other similar requests as well. In fact, I've already filmed it, being just a quarter miles from my house. But the footage and approach isn't the appropriate caliber for such a meaningful place. I'll capture it again and post before Veterans Day. Thank you for asking!
@RobinDuke-h6l - I released a video of the VA cemetery - ruclips.net/video/K_nvymZLv3E/видео.html. The grounds are in great shape. I hope this is helpful.
I have a question! How many rivers are there? Seems like about a dozen!! It’s crazy the amount of damage to the trees from the wind!! Unreal!!
I just wanna say that you all say creek I say crick! lol no shaming or judging I just wanted to say that!
Ha. I may be in the minority on my pronunciation.
There are a countless rivers, cricks, brooks and tributaries reaching through all of the watersheds here. The land area of Western North Carolina is a bit over 11k square miles, and most of it mountainous. What's crazy about this storm is that new channels of water were created, in addition to all the existing ones, to handle the volume of water. Full size rivers popped up where no water path previously existed. Of course they're completely gone now.
@ well I dontlive there nor ever have an I’m the minority of my word crick. It’s how we say it here in northern panhandle of west Virginia /Pittsburgh yinz area!!
The power of water is unreal we have flash floods here now and again from water running off the hill sides and etc nothing compared to what you all experienced but I’ve seen the damage it can do! In 2004 we got hurricane (Ian??) an it was nothing like we’ve ever had an the damage was wide spread . So much rain our hills couldn’t handle it. But I was curious bout how many rivers you have it seems like a lot we have one big river here. The Ohio in all of its filth! Not like you’re beautiful mountains rivers. But we do have beautiful creeks that make up for that river! Thank you for your content and he safe doing your videos. Peace
“Right of way” usually means the area on either side along a public road that the government (city, county, state) retains the right to use, e.g. to widen the road, and is generally required to maintain (mow, etc).
So, this does not include areas along private roads or driveways.
Thanks for the feedback. I had researched right of ways, and read a definition pertaining to easements on private properties. Perhaps I read that entirely wrong.
@ You are also right (no pun intended 😉) that private easements are a kind of ‘right of way’, held by private entities, but those aren’t the responsibility of Buncombe County or State of NC.
Thank you so much for all your work documenting the awful destruction in Helene’s wake! Just drove through Swannanoa yesterday;
still massive evidence of the flooding everywhere! Recovery will continue to take a lot of money, hard work, and time.
Your videos help spread the word that W NC is still in crisis, and still needs much help.
Thanks again!
pickup on private roads?...heres your firewood for how many years?
Why the 🏴☠️⚫️◼️⚫️Rock & owners of the mine stil not in Jail? Looks like evil man doer behind it !💡💡💡
Shope Creek, Buffalo Creek's neighbor was badly flooded and also heavily damaged.
Shope Creek, like so many others, must have been incredibly high to take out the bridge across Bull Creek Rd. Sorry to hear about the flooding and damage.
So much downed wood. I hope they can process it and sell a lot of it.
I would worry that all that down wood will sit and dry out and if you have a dry Spring and Summer, then there is a wildfire risk. A lot of readily combustible material let's say August of 2025?
No doubt. There's a lot of fuel in our forests now. The risk of fire will only increase as it dries out over time.
Are you actually allowed to videotape the Blue ridge parkway because if you are I would love to see a video from the first overlooked down to the old folk art center
Yes, I can film the parkway. Getting close enough via open roads is the challenge. I’ll need to see what the best approach is.