Preparing for Hurricane Season

The Western Carolinas have to be as alert as coastal residents when a hurricane targets the Southeast coast. Even though we are hundreds of miles away, tropical systems can leave their mark from the mountains to the Upstate. The Peek’s Creek disaster was an almost 2 mile long debris slide that started near the top of Fish Hawk Mountain in Macon County, North Carolina. It happened in 2004 and killed 5 people as a wall of trees, boulders and mud raced down the mountainside, taking everything with it in its path. The cause? Too much rain – Western North Carolina had been slammed with flooding rain twice in ten days. The first round came with Hurricane Frances. An additional 5-10 inches of rain that came with the remnants of Hurricane Ivan was enough to turn the mud into a watery mess that could no longer hold onto the mountain, resulting in a devastating mudslide (debris slide) that was recorded as the worst natural disaster in Macon County history.

Mudslides are only one way that the Western Carolinas can be hit in a big way when a dying tropical system passes by. We also have to be alert for flash flooding and severe weather, especially around the Upstate. The remnants from Frances and Ivan produced numerous tornado warnings with the storms that were spawned in association with these systems.

Going back twenty years, the vast majority of landfalling tropical systems that caused us problems here came from the Gulf of Mexico. Atlantic landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes nine times out of ten will recurve to the north, keeping us on the less active western side of the circulation. In contrast, systems that move in from the Gulf, or make their final landfall along the Gulf Coast, many times will turn north and northeastward, taking their energy and copious moisture right into the Western Carolinas.

As is the case with general severe weather safety, it’s important to have a plan. We don’t live on the coast, so we don’t have to board up windows or install hurricane straps on our rooves, but everyone needs to know that if a dying tropical system is headed here, it could mean a higher risk of tornadoes, flash flooding, and of course, mountains residents should not let their guard down if heavy rain keeps falling since this is what can trigger a mudslide. Stay informed. We will keep you ahead of the storm here at News Channel 7 and wspa.com.