An interactive webpage offers a look back at the disaster as its one-year anniversary approaches
Nearly one year after Hurricane Helene, NOAA has released a story map titled “Helene in Southern Appalachia”, which offers an overview of the disaster that struck the region in late September 2024. The story map details the events leading up to Helene, the hurricane itself, and the destruction and tragedy it left in its wake. It also provides a timeline of the region’s ongoing recovery and NOAA’s current contributions to minimizing the effects of disasters like Helene.
The Hurricane
On September 26, 2024, following a predecessor rain event, Helene made landfall in Florida and travelled north, bringing heavy rain and winds to Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas before dissipating two days later. The hurricane brought catastrophic flooding and landslides to the region, which caused widespread destruction to buildings and infrastructure. Over 200 people were killed in the disaster, and the homes of thousands were either damaged or destroyed outright. Many in the region were left without power or running water for over a month. Overall, the disaster caused an estimated $78.7 billion in damages, making it the seventh-costliest U.S. tropical cyclone since 1980. Scientists have determined Hurricane Helene to be a 1-in-1000-year event.
What is a Story Map?
Story maps are educational multimedia webpages—created using the ArcGIS StoryMaps program—that incorporate text, photos, graphics, videos, sound files, and more to create an immersive learning environment. The experience of scrolling through one is comparable to that of walking through an interactive exhibit at a science museum. Story maps bring scientific subjects to life; this makes them ideal for recounting natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, as the devastation they cause can be understood by merely reading about them, but not intuitively felt.
Close to Home
While monitoring and analyzing the data of natural disasters are some of NCEI’s key duties, the organization had never found itself in the midst of one. Helene was the exception: As the NCEI headquarters is located in Asheville, N.C., it was situated directly in the hurricane’s path, leading to disruptions to operations. Employees were also affected; many received damage to their homes, whereas others lost their homes completely and continue to recover from the disaster to this day. The story map emphasizes the effects of Helene on NCEI and the surrounding Asheville area, so as to remind readers that no place is entirely safe from natural disasters.
