The article linked below is long, and for me tough to read. I do not live in Yancey County, but in Mitchell, the county just to the north. The North Toe River flows less than 300 yards from my house; what saved me is that the house sits well above the river.
The most severe damage to my house occurred fairly recently, when a tall oak likely compromised by Helene fell in windy (nowhere near hurricane/tropical storm strength) conditions.
As a native Floridian, I’ve had a lot of experience with hurricanes, including multiple major (Category 3 or higher) storms … I’ve told people that Helene was unlike anything I’d experienced, and this article helped me to understand why that is so.
From the article: “If we had an evacuation order, we certainly would have moved,” a father of nine who lives in Yancey County said.
“I went to bed not worrying about it,” said a woman whose family has lived in the area for at least five generations.
Read the full story (published in ProPublica, in May): https://propub.li/3TsPB0X
