[WATCH] Powerful Flooding Collapses Bridge In Tennessee, Hurricane Helene Forces Frantic Water Rescues

Hurricane Helene has left a path of destruction across the Southeastern United States.

“Massive rains from powerful Hurricane Helene left people stranded, without shelter and awaiting rescue Saturday, as the cleanup began from a tempest that killed at least 64 people, caused widespread destruction across the U.S. Southeast and left millions without power,” the Associated Press reports.

Tennessee and North Carolina experienced horrendous flooding from the storm, with bridges, roads, and dams failing.

WATCH:

Tennessee farmland and the devastation hard working farmers must face.

Pray for the farmers. They work so hard as it is and many can’t afford flood insurance and virtually none have hurricane insurance. #Helene took their livelihood. pic.twitter.com/Dfd8tj0486

— Jennifer Coffindaffer (@CoffindafferFBI) September 28, 2024

Chimney Rock, North Carolina obliterated by flash flood from remnants of Hurricane Helene.

Highway 9 Before and After pic.twitter.com/vLGIOh4xsz

— Michael Evon (@EvonDesign) September 28, 2024

NEW: Chimney Rock village in North Carolina is completely destroyed after Lake Lure dam overtopped from Hurricane Helene.

According to NBC News. the dam is still at “imminent risk of failure.”

“Structural supports have been compromised but the Dam wall is currently… pic.twitter.com/25kojNwt5U

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 27, 2024

“Watch a road bridge in East Tennessee collapse into a river. Known as Kisner Bridge on Highway 107 in the town of Afton, the bridge was no match for the powerful waters of the flooded Nolichucky River,” FOX Weather wrote.

WATCH:

The Kinser Bridge has collapsed near Greenville, Tennessee from severe flood waters of the Nolichuky River.

This was caused by scour on the foundations of the bridge, removing the supporting mudline soil from the piers. pic.twitter.com/W1uQDfg1KG

— Matt Dursh (@MattDursh) September 28, 2024

From the Associated Press:

Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday with winds of 140 mph (225 kph).

From there, it quickly moved through Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that it “looks like a bomb went off” after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air. Weakened, Helene then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains, sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

Western North Carolina was isolated because of landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. All those closures delayed the start of the East Tennessee State University football game against The Citadel because the Buccaneers’ drive to Charleston, South Carolina, took 16 hours.

There have been hundreds of water rescues, none more dramatic than in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop Friday. And the rescues continued into the following day in Buncombe County, North Carolina, where part of Asheville was under water.

“To say this caught us off guard would be an understatement,” said Quentin Miller, the county sheriff.

Helene caused catastrophic damage in parts of Florida, flattening Cedar Key, a beloved island city and tourist destination.

Island City Decimated By Hurricane Helene, Resident Says ‘Completely Gone’

WATCH:

Pieces of homes are widely scattered around Cedar Key, which was slammed with over 10 feet of storm surge last night.

The first floor of multi-story buildings have largely been swept away by the record breaking surge wrought by #Helene and its massive wind field. #FLwx pic.twitter.com/1oQbIotfdW

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) September 27, 2024

Per USA TODAY:

Dozens were killed. Hospital-goers scrambled to rooftops to be whisked away in helicopters. Mayors frantically told citizens to flee. And inmates were desperately removed from a jail directly in the path of floodwaters.

These were among countless harrowing moments as Helene brought a cascade of destruction across the Southeast. The record-breaking storm hit Florida as a hurricane with wind speeds of 140 mph that flattened buildings. It has since weakened to a post-tropical cyclone with 25 mph winds, as floodwaters besieged parts of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Hundreds of road closures cut off Western North Carolina amid what Buncombe County has billed as a “catastrophic natural disaster,” in a morning news release from the county. There was no cellular coverage Saturday morning in the county of over 250,000 people. In Asheville, one video posted by ABC 11 showed a house floating away and collapsing into raging floodwaters.

"This is looking to be Buncombe County's own Hurricane Katrina," County Manager Avril Pinder said during an afternoon news briefing, referring to the 2005 storm that led to widespread flooding, destruction and deaths in New Orleans.

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Gov. Roy Cooper said 10 people had died in North Carolina due to the storm, in a news release on Saturday night. More than 200 others had been rescued by water and helicopter rescue crews who will continue operations through the night.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

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