WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.100 Welcome to Mediology Matters. We are diving deep 00:00:02.100 --> 00:00:04.900 into a fascinating and impactful storm, Hurricane 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:07.700 Helene. It really left its mark on the Southeastern 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:10.500 U .S. back in late September 2024. Oh, yeah. 00:00:10.699 --> 00:00:13.000 A lot to unpack. Absolutely. And thankfully, 00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:15.160 we have a pretty amazing resource to guide us. 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:17.460 We're going off of a really thorough report from 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:19.420 the National Oceanic Atmosphere Administration. 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:21.519 So basically everything we need to understand 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:23.940 this storm. Helene was quite a story. For sure. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:25.140 So we're going to go through the whole thing. 00:00:25.260 --> 00:00:27.739 We'll trap its path, dig into what made it so 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:29.920 intense. And break down those impacts, for sure, 00:00:30.100 --> 00:00:32.159 across multiple states. Right. So you guys listening, 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:33.600 by the end of this, you'll have a much clearer 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.340 picture of just what went down with this major 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:38.780 weather event. And you can also follow meteorologist 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:42.179 Rob Jones on Instagram, meteorologist on TikTok, 00:00:42.500 --> 00:00:45.179 TV meteorologist, and on YouTube, follow Rob 00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:47.539 Jones Hurricane, where you can find the Meteology 00:00:47.539 --> 00:00:50.679 Matters podcast playlist. Sounds good. So let's 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:53.240 dive in. Helene's story, as we say, began around 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:56.859 September 20th, 2024. It all started with a Central 00:00:56.859 --> 00:00:59.719 American jar, right? J -I -R -E, pronounced like 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:02.539 tire, but with a J sound. Interesting. Yeah, 00:01:02.539 --> 00:01:04.540 it brought some pretty heavy rain to Nicaragua 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:06.840 and Honduras. You know, it's amazing how these 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:09.400 large rotating weather systems, these gyres, 00:01:09.659 --> 00:01:11.879 they can actually be the starting point for some 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:14.939 really powerful tropical cyclones. So the specific 00:01:14.939 --> 00:01:17.599 gyres, think of it as this big swirling area 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.640 of low pressure. As it moved north, it started 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.079 to become more organized, like, you know, when 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:25.019 you have a really messy desk and then you start 00:01:25.019 --> 00:01:27.019 putting things away. I know the feeling. Right. 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:29.400 So it was like that gradually getting more defined. 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:32.280 And by September 23, it had become significant 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:35.140 enough that the National Hurricane Center declared 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:37.680 it a potential tropical cyclone. Right, south 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.359 of Grand Cayman. Exactly. But still, it wasn't 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:42.359 officially a tropical cyclone yet, right? Correct. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:45.159 That takes a bit more time, a bit more organization. 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:47.599 You see, this initial system was really spread 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:50.500 out, really broad. It needed to develop a much 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:52.900 more focused center of low -level rotation, like 00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:55.500 a really tight spinning core, before it could 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:57.879 be considered a full -fledged tropical cyclone. 00:01:58.180 --> 00:02:00.519 OK, that makes sense. But even so, that potential 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:03.140 tropical cyclone advisory That's a pretty big 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:05.239 deal, right? Oh, absolutely. That's a crucial 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:07.519 heads up. It means forecasters are seeing the 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:09.580 potential for the system to strengthen into a 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:11.879 tropical storm, or even a hurricane, and then, 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.020 of course, bring those conditions to land. And 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:16.379 we're talking within the next 48 hours or so. 00:02:16.379 --> 00:02:18.300 So that gives communities that really valuable 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:21.159 time to get ready. To prepare, yeah. Exactly. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:23.340 So fast forward just a couple of days. September 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:26.680 26, the report describes Helene undergoing this 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.740 rapid intensification over the Gulf of Mexico. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.810 A gulf, yeah. Right. And then boom. peak intensity 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:36.009 around midnight UTC on September 27th. A formidable 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:39.569 120 knots. Wow, 120 knots. That's some serious 00:02:39.569 --> 00:02:42.210 power. And that data came from, well, they basically 00:02:42.210 --> 00:02:44.469 said in the big guns, both Air Force Reserve 00:02:44.469 --> 00:02:47.729 and NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft. Wow. Yeah, 00:02:47.729 --> 00:02:49.569 flying directly into the storm. Those flights, 00:02:49.569 --> 00:02:51.949 they're absolutely essential. It's not just about 00:02:51.949 --> 00:02:54.210 braving the storm. Those aircraft are packed 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:56.509 with all these incredible instruments. They can 00:02:56.509 --> 00:02:58.990 measure wind speeds directly, atmospheric pressure 00:02:58.990 --> 00:03:01.439 right in the heart of the hurricane. Wow. And 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:03.500 what's also really cool is that around the same 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:06.819 time, a Noah Bowie was anchored out in the northeastern 00:03:06.819 --> 00:03:10.300 Gulf of Mexico, and it managed to capture some 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:13.000 pretty amazing surface observations. So we're 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.520 talking sustained winds of 69 knots with gusts 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:19.639 reaching up to, get this, 93 knots. Wow. And 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:22.819 a minimum pressure reading of 949 millibars. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:24.819 Now that low pressure, that's a big indicator 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:27.120 of just how strong a hurricane is. So all this 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:29.240 intensification, it happened over those warm 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:31.460 waters of the Gulf of Mexico. as he said. And 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:34.099 then Helene made landfall in Florida. But what 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:36.780 really jumped out at me from the report was just 00:03:36.780 --> 00:03:39.699 how fast it was moving by then, 27 knots. It 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:41.520 was like a speed demon. It was really motoring, 00:03:41.699 --> 00:03:44.449 yeah. That speed, as you can imagine, it had 00:03:44.449 --> 00:03:47.210 a huge impact on how the storm behaved once it 00:03:47.210 --> 00:03:50.110 hit land. Typically, hurricanes start to weaken 00:03:50.110 --> 00:03:52.469 as they move inland. They lose that energy source 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:54.169 from the warmation, plus they're encountering 00:03:54.169 --> 00:03:56.409 all that friction from the land. But Helene, 00:03:56.509 --> 00:03:58.430 because it was moving so fast, it just plowed 00:03:58.430 --> 00:04:00.750 through. So it kept more of its strength. Right, 00:04:01.009 --> 00:04:03.030 much more than we normally see in these situations. 00:04:03.229 --> 00:04:05.509 And it even stayed a hurricane even after moving 00:04:05.509 --> 00:04:08.050 inland over southern Georgia. It wasn't until 00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:11.729 about 0900 UTC on September 27th that it finally 00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:13.909 weakened to a tropical storm. And even then, 00:04:14.150 --> 00:04:17.529 its center was only about 30 modicle miles east 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:20.439 of Macon, Georgia? Wow. So that forward speed 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:23.240 really played a huge role. It did. And the interesting 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.100 thing here is how it continued. As it curved 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:28.500 northward, it was interacting with this low pressure 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:31.339 system way up over the Ohio Valley. And that 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:33.480 interaction essentially helped to drive those 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.600 strong winds, especially the gusts, much farther 00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:38.720 inland than you'd normally expect from a storm 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:40.740 that had already moved so far inland. Right. 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:42.980 Like across the entire southeastern US. Let's 00:04:42.980 --> 00:04:45.720 talk more about those wind impacts. Because the 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:47.660 report makes it clear that these life threatening 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:51.389 wind gusts they extended really far inland, which 00:04:51.389 --> 00:04:54.589 is scary. And that was a direct result of Helene's 00:04:54.589 --> 00:04:56.699 speed and size. Absolutely. They both played 00:04:56.699 --> 00:04:59.279 a big part. Now, the strongest sustained wind 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.220 at a low elevation that was measured on land 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:04.019 in Florida came in at 64 knots. But here's the 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:06.379 thing. That measurement was taken at about 2 00:05:06.379 --> 00:05:09.480 .25 meters above ground. OK. So when they adjust 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:12.000 that to the standard height for meteorological 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.680 measurements, which is 10 meters, the estimated 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:16.319 wind speed there would have actually been closer 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.699 to 79 knots. And this measurement, it was taken 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:22.459 a little ways England after landfall. So it's 00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:24.959 very likely that even stronger sustained wind 00:05:24.939 --> 00:05:27.540 occurred right along the coast. So hurricane 00:05:27.540 --> 00:05:30.439 force winds. Exactly, sustained winds of 64 knots 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.959 or higher. They actually impacted parts of northern 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:35.060 Florida and southern Georgia. We're talking a 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:37.420 pretty sizable area. Oh absolutely and Georgia 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:39.660 especially saw some really intense gusts like 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:42.079 there's this weather station in Lowndes County 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:45.100 south southeast of Valdosta. It recorded a gust 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:48.339 of 83 knots and then Bacon County Airport in 00:05:48.339 --> 00:05:52.319 Alma even higher 87 knots. And what's also interesting 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:54.500 for you to note is that a bunch of locations 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:57.139 in Georgia and the Eastern Florida Panhandle, 00:05:57.459 --> 00:06:00.100 they actually experience their lowest atmospheric 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:03.649 pressure readings ever during Helene. Ever. So 00:06:03.649 --> 00:06:05.730 it wasn't just the areas that got hit with hurricane 00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:08.389 force winds that were impacted. There were large 00:06:08.389 --> 00:06:10.870 portions of eastern Georgia and even parts of 00:06:10.870 --> 00:06:13.250 South Carolina, southern and western areas. They 00:06:13.250 --> 00:06:16.550 saw sustained winds over 50 knots and they even 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:18.889 had damaging hurricane force gusts there too. 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:20.709 Yeah. The report mentioned something called a 00:06:20.709 --> 00:06:23.610 large gust factor, a gust factor. Yeah. So basically 00:06:23.610 --> 00:06:25.589 it means the difference between those peak wind 00:06:25.589 --> 00:06:27.949 gusts and the average sustained wind speed. It 00:06:27.949 --> 00:06:31.009 was just huge, much larger than usual. So those 00:06:31.009 --> 00:06:33.240 gusts, they packed a real punch. even in areas 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:34.959 that weren't seeing sustained hurricane force 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.660 winds. For instance, Augusta, Georgia, they got 00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:40.839 slammed with a gust of 71 knots. So even North 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:43.120 Carolina, way up in the Appalachian Mountains, 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:45.819 felt the effects of Helene. They clocked the 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:49.399 highest gust at a mind -blowing 92 knots up on 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:51.220 Mount Mitchell. Oh yeah, that's way up there. 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:52.759 But the high elevation definitely had something 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:54.819 to do with that. And the impacts, they weren't 00:06:54.819 --> 00:06:56.759 limited to just those states near the coast. 00:06:57.019 --> 00:06:59.779 The report even mentions tropical storm force 00:06:59.779 --> 00:07:02.560 winds with gusts over 50 knots being reported 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:04.819 in parts of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.220 and Kentucky. Wow. So this was a widespread event. 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:11.199 It really shows you just how far reaching Helene's 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.439 wind field was, you know, as it moved inland. 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:15.300 Now let's talk about something that's always 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.680 a huge concern with hurricanes. Storm surge. 00:07:17.870 --> 00:07:19.629 And from what I'm reading in this report, it 00:07:19.629 --> 00:07:22.930 sounds like Helene produced a truly catastrophic 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:25.370 surge along Florida's Gulf Coast. Oh, it was 00:07:25.370 --> 00:07:27.790 devastating. The Big Bend region of Florida, 00:07:28.089 --> 00:07:30.230 particularly from just west of Keaton Beach all 00:07:30.230 --> 00:07:32.329 the way through Steinhatchee, it experienced 00:07:32.329 --> 00:07:36.170 inundation, like water levels 12 to 16 feet above 00:07:36.170 --> 00:07:38.649 ground level. That's insane. It was. The report 00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:40.709 really emphasizes how devastating it was for 00:07:40.709 --> 00:07:42.850 those small coastal communities. And it's not 00:07:42.850 --> 00:07:45.149 like the impacts were limited to that small stretch. 00:07:45.290 --> 00:07:47.730 Significant surge in wave action reached as far 00:07:47.730 --> 00:07:50.910 south as Naples. Really? Yeah, intacting Campa 00:07:50.910 --> 00:07:54.350 Bay, Sarasota, pretty populated areas. And the 00:07:54.350 --> 00:07:58.750 report describes some pretty awful scenes. Homes 00:07:58.750 --> 00:08:01.689 ripped right off their foundations, moved England 00:08:01.689 --> 00:08:04.430 by the sheer force of the water. I mean the power 00:08:04.430 --> 00:08:07.990 of that water is just... Mind -boggling. Absolutely. 00:08:08.149 --> 00:08:10.389 And the National Weather Service, after the storm, 00:08:10.430 --> 00:08:12.750 they did those on -the -ground surveys. And those 00:08:12.750 --> 00:08:15.189 surveys, they confirmed just how high that surge 00:08:15.189 --> 00:08:18.189 was. Like in Steinhatchie, they found a high 00:08:18.189 --> 00:08:21.790 water mark at 16 .1 feet above mean higher high 00:08:21.790 --> 00:08:24.029 water. Now, just so you know, mean higher high 00:08:24.029 --> 00:08:26.110 water, that's the average height of the highest 00:08:26.110 --> 00:08:29.069 tide they see in a particular spot. So this surge 00:08:29.069 --> 00:08:31.430 pushed the water way above even those normal 00:08:31.430 --> 00:08:34.110 high tides. So unprecedented flooding. Exactly. 00:08:34.309 --> 00:08:36.679 And Steinhatchie wasn't alone. Other places along 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:39.159 the Gulf Coast, from Cedar Key down to the Anklot 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.259 River, they experienced a substantial surge too, 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:44.720 like six to nine feet above ground level. And 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:47.000 even farther south, Englewood down to Bonita 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:51.019 Beach, even the Florida Keys, saw elevated water 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:53.429 levels. It's amazing how far reaching these impacts 00:08:53.429 --> 00:08:56.070 can be. And, you know, Helene's surge didn't 00:08:56.070 --> 00:08:58.250 just affect the Florida Gulf Coast. The report 00:08:58.250 --> 00:09:01.250 also mentions minor elevated water levels along 00:09:01.250 --> 00:09:03.509 the U .S. East Coast, places like Georgia and 00:09:03.509 --> 00:09:06.269 South Carolina, and even down in Mexico's Yucatan 00:09:06.269 --> 00:09:08.389 Peninsula. Wow. All the way down there. Yeah. 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:11.210 It just shows how a major hurricane can impact. 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:14.269 ocean levels across a huge area. Now let's shift 00:09:14.269 --> 00:09:15.990 gears a bit and talk about the rainfall from 00:09:15.990 --> 00:09:18.750 Helene. It sounds like Helene dumped an unbelievable 00:09:18.750 --> 00:09:21.210 amount of rain and not just near the coast. The 00:09:21.210 --> 00:09:23.129 report mentions that Helene interacted with something 00:09:23.129 --> 00:09:26.409 called a baroclinic cutoff low. Yeah. And that 00:09:26.409 --> 00:09:29.149 led to this really prolonged heavy rainfall stretching 00:09:29.149 --> 00:09:31.490 all the way from Florida up into the southern 00:09:31.490 --> 00:09:33.389 Appalachians. That interaction, that was key. 00:09:33.549 --> 00:09:35.950 A baroclinic cutoff low, think of it like this 00:09:35.950 --> 00:09:38.970 like bubble of cold air detached high up in the 00:09:38.970 --> 00:09:41.940 atmosphere. And when a tropical system like Helene 00:09:41.940 --> 00:09:44.220 moves into one of these things, it gets a boost. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:46.059 You get a lot more lift in the atmosphere, which 00:09:46.059 --> 00:09:48.940 means heavier rain, more prolonged rainfall than 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:51.379 you'd get from the hurricane alone. And what's 00:09:51.379 --> 00:09:53.019 important to understand here is that a lot of 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:55.740 these inland areas, they'd already had a significant 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:57.879 amount of rain just before Helene arrived. So 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:00.379 the ground was totally saturated, making flooding 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:02.539 that much more likely. And some of the rainfall 00:10:02.539 --> 00:10:04.580 totals were just off the charts, especially in 00:10:04.580 --> 00:10:07.100 western North Carolina. 20 to 30 inches of rain. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:10.720 20 to 30 inches. they mentioned was a mind -blowing 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:14.220 30 .78 inches in Busick. That's over two and 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.120 a half feet of rain. Just an incredible amount 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:17.919 of rain in such a short time. There was also 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.360 a lot of significant rainfall like 10 to 15 inches 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:23.320 in southwestern Virginia, northwestern South 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:26.000 Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Even the Atlanta 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.299 metro area got 12 to 13 inches and the Florida 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:32.639 panhandle up to 14 .39 inches. All this widespread 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:35.179 heavy rain just added to the overall disaster. 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:37.200 Right, so all that rain you can imagine what 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:39.720 it did. major freshwater flooding. It was bad. 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:42.480 The report even mentions record river crests 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:44.740 in several counties in western North Carolina. 00:10:45.299 --> 00:10:46.919 With some of those records, they weren't just 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:49.100 broken, they were shattered. Yeah, like the South 00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:51.899 Toe River near Silo. Right. It broke its old 00:10:51.899 --> 00:10:55.549 record by almost nine feet. 8 .7 feet. You can 00:10:55.549 --> 00:10:57.250 only imagine the scale of the flood in there. 00:10:57.490 --> 00:10:59.330 And, of course, the flooding led to a lot of 00:10:59.330 --> 00:11:01.669 rescues. A lot of them. A lot of people had to 00:11:01.669 --> 00:11:04.029 be pulled from dangerous flood waters, especially 00:11:04.029 --> 00:11:06.669 in western North Carolina and, you know, also 00:11:06.669 --> 00:11:08.649 on the west coast of Florida because of the storm 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:11.169 surge. It really highlights the different kinds 00:11:11.169 --> 00:11:13.309 of threats that can come from just one storm. 00:11:13.549 --> 00:11:15.330 It's almost too much. And on top of everything 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:18.730 else, Helene spawned tornadoes. So it wasn't 00:11:18.730 --> 00:11:20.730 just the wind and the rain, it was also these 00:11:20.730 --> 00:11:23.929 smaller but still incredibly dangerous rotating 00:11:23.929 --> 00:11:27.450 storms. Yeah, 39 tornadoes in total, 33 while 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:29.529 it was still a tropical cyclone, and then six 00:11:29.529 --> 00:11:31.950 more after it had transitioned to a post -tropical 00:11:31.950 --> 00:11:33.850 system. That's wild. It's good to hear that most 00:11:33.850 --> 00:11:36.350 of them were rated EF0 and EF1, so on the weaker 00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:39.090 side. But there was that one EF3 tornado in South 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:41.679 Carolina and one EF2 in North Carolina. Even 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.840 those weaker tornadoes can do a lot of damage, 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.620 and to have 39 in total, that's a lot for one 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:49.399 storm. It just goes to show you how complex and 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:51.279 unpredictable these systems can be. You've got 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:53.139 all these different hazards coming at you, even 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:55.360 far away from the center of the storm. And now 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:57.340 for the hardest part of the report, I think. 00:11:57.610 --> 00:11:59.590 The casualty and damage statistic? The human 00:11:59.590 --> 00:12:01.730 cost, yeah. It's a stark reminder. So according 00:12:01.730 --> 00:12:04.470 to the report, Helene directly caused at least 00:12:04.470 --> 00:12:07.029 175 deaths, and that's across several states. 00:12:07.190 --> 00:12:09.269 And sadly, the highest number of those deaths, 00:12:09.389 --> 00:12:13.690 85, occurred in North Carolina and the main culprit, 00:12:14.289 --> 00:12:16.539 freshwater flooding. Flooding England. It's just 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:19.039 so dangerous. On top of those direct fatalities, 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:21.620 there were also 70 deaths indirectly linked to 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:24.240 Helene. Things like heart attacks during evacuations, 00:12:24.659 --> 00:12:26.759 traffic accidents in the storm, or even incidents 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:28.700 that happened during the cleanup. Right. So in 00:12:28.700 --> 00:12:31.860 total, 248 deaths related to Helene in the US. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:34.720 It's just heartbreaking. It is. And at least 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.500 117 injuries were reported. And there were also 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:39.799 about 2 ,700 people who had to be rescued from 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:41.950 high water. It's important to remember that about 00:12:41.950 --> 00:12:43.990 half of those rescues, they were due to that 00:12:43.990 --> 00:12:46.549 storm surge on Florida's west coast. And over 00:12:46.549 --> 00:12:48.730 a thousand were from that really bad freshwater 00:12:48.730 --> 00:12:50.789 flooding in western North Carolina. And then 00:12:50.789 --> 00:12:53.210 there's the financial costs, which is just staggering. 00:12:53.429 --> 00:12:55.990 Seventy eight point seven billion dollars. Seventy 00:12:55.990 --> 00:12:57.889 eight point seven billion dollars in damages. 00:12:58.049 --> 00:13:00.929 That's the estimated total, which puts Helene 00:13:00.929 --> 00:13:03.370 among the hostiliest hurricanes to hit the U 00:13:03.370 --> 00:13:05.549 .S. seventh when you adjust for inflation to 00:13:05.549 --> 00:13:08.950 2024 values. Most of that damage, unsurprisingly, 00:13:09.149 --> 00:13:10.909 occurred in Florida. Florida, Georgia, South 00:13:10.909 --> 00:13:12.789 Carolina, North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, 00:13:12.950 --> 00:13:15.509 and Southwestern Virginia. It really shows you 00:13:15.509 --> 00:13:17.889 just how far -reaching the impacts were. And 00:13:17.889 --> 00:13:19.909 the impact on infrastructure was massive, too. 00:13:20.090 --> 00:13:23.269 An estimated 7 .4 million customers lost power. 00:13:23.409 --> 00:13:25.450 Which, you know, that translates to about 16 00:13:25.450 --> 00:13:28.470 .2 million people without electricity. At its 00:13:28.470 --> 00:13:31.750 peak, there were about 4 .79 million customers 00:13:31.750 --> 00:13:34.549 in the dark. Wow. And Florida, South Carolina, 00:13:34.669 --> 00:13:36.429 Georgia, and North Carolina, they were the hardest 00:13:36.429 --> 00:13:39.549 hit in terms of those power outages. goes into 00:13:39.549 --> 00:13:42.029 detail about the damage to homes and infrastructure 00:13:42.029 --> 00:13:44.809 across all those states. You had that destructive 00:13:44.809 --> 00:13:47.330 storm surge along the coast, the winds just ripping 00:13:47.330 --> 00:13:49.389 through communities, and then of course the flooding. 00:13:49.990 --> 00:13:52.370 So widespread and prolonged. Helene was just 00:13:52.370 --> 00:13:54.610 a force of nature. So let's talk about the forecasts 00:13:54.610 --> 00:13:56.289 and the warnings, because that's obviously a 00:13:56.289 --> 00:13:58.629 critical part of this whole story. Thankfully, 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:01.029 it seems like the National Hurricane Center issued 00:14:01.029 --> 00:14:03.309 timely warnings for the Northwestern Caribbean 00:14:03.309 --> 00:14:06.029 Sea, even when Helene was just starting to form. 00:14:06.330 --> 00:14:09.230 Those early warnings are so important. Oh, absolutely. 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:11.399 It gives people the chance to get ready. you 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:13.860 know, before things get really bad. And it looks 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:16.179 like the NHC did a decent job with their track 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:19.460 forecast too. The report says their track forecast 00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:22.860 errors were generally on par with or even better 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:25.440 than the average for the previous five years, 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:28.220 particularly those early forecasts. The report 00:14:28.220 --> 00:14:30.500 actually notes that the track was more challenging 00:14:30.500 --> 00:14:33.320 to predict than usual. Really? So for them to 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.440 still be pretty accurate, it's pretty impressive. 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:37.399 And what about the storm surge warnings? Those 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.059 had to have been critical considering how devastating 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:42.909 the surge was. You bet. It seems like those watches 00:14:42.909 --> 00:14:45.350 and warnings were issued with enough lead time. 00:14:45.429 --> 00:14:48.370 So before those tropical storm force winds arrived, 00:14:48.389 --> 00:14:51.330 and before the worst of the surge, like in Tampa 00:14:51.330 --> 00:14:53.509 Bay, the lead time for the storm surge watch, 00:14:53.690 --> 00:14:56.269 it was 60 hours before the winds hit. Wow, 60 00:14:56.269 --> 00:14:58.970 hours. And the warning, that was 36 hours before. 00:14:59.429 --> 00:15:02.129 And in the Big Bend region, where it hit the 00:15:02.129 --> 00:15:04.889 hardest, the lead times were even longer. The 00:15:04.889 --> 00:15:07.009 initial storm surge forecast, that did a good 00:15:07.009 --> 00:15:09.490 job too, highlighting those areas that would 00:15:09.490 --> 00:15:11.799 end up seeing the highest water levels. So good 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:14.039 news there. And in terms of the rainfall forecast, 00:15:14.299 --> 00:15:15.659 it sounds like there were some challenges there, 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:17.879 especially with that earlier rain event that 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:19.639 had already separated the ground. It's always 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:21.820 tricky to get that just right. You know, it sounds 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.220 like they initially predicted the heaviest rain 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:26.179 a little too far west, but then they updated 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:28.639 the forecast, which is good. But overall, the 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:30.580 Weather Prediction Center, they really emphasize 00:15:30.580 --> 00:15:34.620 the threat of inland flooding and with a decent 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:37.500 lead time. They did. They even upgraded the risk 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:40.159 for excessive rainfall to a high risk of full 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.000 48 hours before that first flash flood emergency. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.399 That shows you how confident they were in the 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:47.419 severity of the situation. And it looks like 00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:49.899 the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:52.600 really went all out with their public communication 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:54.799 efforts too, especially when it came to that 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:56.679 in -length of the threat. Absolutely. That's 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:58.480 so important because it's not just about the 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:00.779 coastal impacts, right? Right. The report talks 00:16:00.779 --> 00:16:03.179 about all the communication between the NHC and 00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:05.830 emergency managers. tons of briefings to make 00:16:05.830 --> 00:16:08.549 sure everyone was on the same page. And the hurricane 00:16:08.549 --> 00:16:10.970 liaison team, they did a great job supporting 00:16:10.970 --> 00:16:13.830 those evacuation planning efforts along Florida's 00:16:13.830 --> 00:16:17.190 west coast. Plus the NHC activated that television 00:16:17.190 --> 00:16:19.870 media pool, did a bunch of interviews, both in 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:22.129 English and Spanish, to reach as many people 00:16:22.129 --> 00:16:24.470 as possible. Smart move. And of course, they 00:16:24.470 --> 00:16:26.909 utilized live streams and social media. Right. 00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:29.070 And the Weather Prediction Center and the National 00:16:29.070 --> 00:16:31.610 Water Center, they also ramped up their communication 00:16:31.610 --> 00:16:33.649 efforts. To make sure everyone knew about those 00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:35.730 inland flooding risks. So overall, it seems like 00:16:35.730 --> 00:16:37.429 they did a pretty solid job getting the word 00:16:37.429 --> 00:16:40.009 out. So to sum all this up, Helene was an incredibly 00:16:40.009 --> 00:16:43.250 powerful and really complex storm. It was. And 00:16:43.250 --> 00:16:46.169 it had this devastating impact across the southeastern 00:16:46.169 --> 00:16:48.610 United States. It did. From those humble beginnings 00:16:48.610 --> 00:16:51.490 as a Central American jitter to its rapid intensification 00:16:51.490 --> 00:16:54.299 in the Gulf of Mexico. and then it moves so fast 00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:56.200 inland, and then you have that catastrophic storm 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:57.980 surge and the flooding that just wouldn't quit. 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:01.100 Helene is a reminder, like a really stark reminder, 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.039 of just how destructive these tropical cyclones 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:06.220 can be. They really are. And thankfully, we have 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:08.720 this incredibly thorough report from the National 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:11.339 Oceanic Atmosphere Administration to help us 00:17:11.339 --> 00:17:13.640 understand it. So it gives us these really valuable 00:17:13.640 --> 00:17:16.180 insights into the characteristics of the storm, 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:18.500 its effects, and its effects on both coastal 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:20.480 and inland communities. So there you have it. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.920 That's Hurricane Helene. Meteorology is a constantly 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:24.980 evolving field, and we're always learning more. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.460 Events like Helene, they just underscore how 00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:30.519 crucial continued research is, accurate forecasting, 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:33.319 and of course, effective communication to protect 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:34.980 lives and property when these powerful storms 00:17:34.980 --> 00:17:37.180 strike. Absolutely. So if you'd like to explore 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:39.180 specific aspects of Hurricane Helene in more 00:17:39.180 --> 00:17:41.619 detail, don't hesitate to reach out. We'd love 00:17:41.619 --> 00:17:43.240 to hear from you. And thanks for listening to 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:45.240 Meteorology Matter. Oh, and don't forget, follow 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:48.240 Meteorologist Rob Jones on Instagram, Meteorologist 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.220 on TikTok, TV Meteorologist, and on On YouTube, 00:17:51.619 --> 00:17:53.440 follow Rob Joan Hurricane, where you can find 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.980 the Meteorology Matters podcast playlist. Perfect. 00:17:56.460 --> 00:17:58.980 So one last thought for you all. As we reflect 00:17:58.980 --> 00:18:01.140 on Hurricane Helene, its journey, its impacts, 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:03.920 what do you see as the biggest challenges for 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:05.980 communities that may face similar threats in 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:08.240 the future, especially when we think about that 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.440 combination of coastal surge and that devastating 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:13.799 inland flooding? That's definitely something 00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:15.140 to consider. Thanks again for listening.