NC activates 175 soldiers, 16 water rescue teams ahead of ‘catastrophic flooding’ from Hurricane Helene

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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Ahead of Hurricane Helene’s arrival in N.C., Governor Roy Cooper said the state is preparing for what will be an “unusually dangerous” storm.

In an 11 a.m. update Thursday, Cooper announced that 175 soldiers and airmen from the N.C. The National Guard has been activated. He also said swift water rescue and urban search and rescue teams from around the state have been deployed as Hurricane Helene is expected to bring more than a foot of rain to western North Carolina.

In places like Asheville and Weaverville, the rain has already produced major flooding. In the below video sent in by Maddy Dyer, a viewer of sister station CBS 17, you can see flood conditions along Weaverville Road by the Bellagio Bistro.

“Tropical weather in our mountains can be deadly,” Cooper said, warning everyone in the mountains and sandhills regions to be prepared and to not attempt to drive through floodwaters.

Head of the N.C. Department of Public Safety, Willam Ray, said the impacts from Hurricane Helene are already underway in the state. He said primary threats for North Carolina from Helene include rainfall, landslides, debris flows, river flooding and life-threatening flash flooding.

For those in the mountains, Ray said to be ready for “multiple rounds” of storms.

So far, 18 local states of emergency have been declared in addition to the statewide emergency declaration made Wednesday by Governor Cooper.

In addition to having NCDOT and Duke Energy crews ready to roll to mitigate outages and road closures, Ray said the DPS is also monitoring dams across the state. This, he said, is in case there’s a situation where anyone in the way of a dam that fails can be notified immediately.

To check on road conditions and monitor river gauges throughout the threatening weather event, you can visit Drivenc.gov and FIMANNC.gov .

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