400+ roads closed in NC mountains after 2 feet of Helene rain wipes out highways, villages, homes

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN/AP) — Catastrophic flooding from more than two feet of rain in the North Carolina mountains from Hurricane Helene has closed more than 400 roads in the western part of the state on Saturday morning, North Carolina officials and the National Weather Service said.

“All roads in Western NC should be considered closed,” the N.C. Department of Transportation said just after 11 a.m. Saturday.

Helene rainfall totals top 30 inches in NC mountains – get full list

Western North Carolina was essentially cut off because of landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other major roads.

Video shows sections of Asheville underwater and a large section of the village of Chimney Rock was wiped out by flooding.

A map of rainfall totals from the National Weather Service showed areas of 23.29 inches of rain and 22.63 inches of rain in some North Carolina counties.

As of Saturday afternoon, more than 900,000 households statewide are without power, according to North Carolina Emergency Management. Two people in North Carolina have lost their lives to the storm with 14 injured by a tornado in the Rocky Mount area.

A mudslide in the Appalachian Mountains washed out part of an interstate highway at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line.

Another slide hit homes in North Carolina and occupants had to wait more than four hours to be rescued, said Ryan Cole, the emergency services assistant director in Buncombe County. His 911 center received more than 3,300 calls in eight hours Friday.

“This is something that we’re going to be dealing with for many days and weeks to come,” Cole said.

Francine Cavanaugh said she has been totally unable to reach her sister, son, or friends in the Asheville area.

“My sister checked in with me yesterday morning to find out how I was in Atlanta,” she said on Saturday. “The storm was just hitting her in Asheville, and she said it sounded really scary outside.”

Cavanaugh said her sister had no idea how bad the storm would be there. She told Cavanaugh she was going to head out to check on guests at a vacation cabin “and that’s the last I heard of her. I’ve been texting everyone that I know with no response. All phone calls go directly to voicemail.”

She saw video of a grocery store near the cabins that was completely flooded.

“I think that people are just completely stuck, wherever they are, with no cell service, no electricity.”

Authorities warned residents to evacuate, and many did, but some stayed behind.

In North Carolina, a lake featured in the movie “Dirty Dancing” overtopped a dam and surrounding neighborhoods were evacuated, although there were no immediate concerns it would fail. People also were evacuated from Newport, Tennessee, a city of about 7,000 people, amid concerns about a dam near there, although officials later said the structure had not failed.

Tornadoes hit some areas, including one in Nash County, North Carolina, that critically injured 4 people and 10 others.

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