Nolichucky River changes after flooding from Hurricane Helene

(WJHL) – The flooding from Hurricane Helene caused significant changes to the Nolichucky River, which flows from North Carolina into Unicoi, Washington and Greene Counties in Tennessee.

Andrew Joyner, Tennessee State Climatologist and Geosciences Associate Professor at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), said there have been many shifts in the Nolichucky where silt and sand deposited and where it was stripped away.

“We were in Bumpus Cove last week and several feet of silt in one part of the bend and then you look across the river and that land has been completely stripped,” Joyner said. “And so you’ve got some areas where they’ve lost several feet, maybe five or ten feet even of soil, subsoil. And you’ve got some parts where that’s been deposited and so they’ve increased in elevation.”

Joyner said one of the data points captured the Nolichucky flowing 160 times higher than normal during the flooding.

“Was at Embreeville where we saw close to 90,000 cubic feet per second,” Joyner said. “On a normal early October, late September day, you’re looking [at] 500 to 700 cubic feet per second.”

The climate office at ETSU has conducted a study about the Hurricane Helene impacts on Northeast Tennessee. The study also shows maps of different areas around the Nolichucky River before and after the flooding.

“You may actually have a little bit wider in some locations, but shallower,” Joyner said. “And you’ve got other locations where curves were kind of straightened and that’s where you might see a little bit increased flow because those curves kind of help slow it down. And so whenever you straighten an area, that’s where you might see a little bit of increased flow long term.”

Jubal Roe and Jerry Reed are on Kingsport’s Fire and Rescue Swiftwater team. They both know the Nolichucky well. However, they said the recent flooding brought aggressive rapids that they had never seen before.

“The rocks in the bottom of the river have changed position and created negative space, which creates undercut rocks which is a hazard for us,” Roe said. “During the flooding, a lot of the railway blew out and ended up in the river itself. So there’s a lot of debris. It looks kind of like a rollercoaster down through there. And some of those roller coasters end up in rapids, which is pretty dangerous.”

Roe said there are hazards in the river that were not there before the flooding. The swiftwater team was recently on a search mission along with hazmat teams.

“Searching the debris piles and also marking and dealing with some of the hazardous materials containers that are still in debris piles through there,” Reed said.

The Nolichucky River is different, even for rescue teams. It’ll take time to adjust and learn the new landscape.

“There’s a lot of ledges to avoid,” Roe said. “And I would really encourage everyone to scout the rapids, which means getting out of your boat and looking at the rapids before you choose to go down. And I would definitely walk the big ledge that used to be a quarter mile, the first ledge in a quarter mile because it is hazardous. I think at some water levels, I think it could be terminal.”

Roe said rescue missions were already difficult on the Nolichucky, but now that has increased.

“So before, we could have evacuate using the railroad and now the railroads blown out,” Roe said. “So rescues have always been hard. But the thing we always had was the railroad and now it’s gone. So it makes it more difficult.”

Roe and Reed said CSX is working on building back the railroad along the Nolichucky.

They, along with Joyner, encourage people not to recreationally use the Nolichucky River at this time. Searches for missing individuals are still being conducted.

“I’m concerned that people might go on the river thinking it’s the same wild river they know and maybe get over their head and have problems out there and need to be rescued,” Roe said. “And right now, our efforts really need to be on searching for people and not rescuing others. So I would encourage everyone to stay off the river for now. Just out of respect for the family and for your safety.”

Joyner said water quality sampling will take place soon. More imaging and tests are also being done to see exactly how much the Nolichucky has changed.

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