Hurricanes don’t stop at the coast – these mountain towns know how severe flood damage can be inland and are preparing

The French Broad River winds through the mountains of western North Carolina, fed by dozens of mountain streams, and passes through the city of Asheville. At over 2,000 feet above sea level and more than 250 miles from the coast, it’s unlikely that anyone here would need to prepare for a hurricane.

Nevertheless, over the years, the remnants of several hurricanes have swept through this region, causing the region’s rivers to overflow their banks.

When these storms occur one after the other, the destruction can be enormous. For example, in September 2004, the tail end of Hurricanes Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne brought extreme amounts of rain to western North Carolina within a matter of weeks, flooding the French Broad and other rivers in the Asheville area.

The history of western North Carolina is just one example of the risks posed by inland tropical cyclones.

In 1955, Connie, closely followed by Diane, caused some of the worst flooding in inland Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. Diane became known as the first storm to cause billions of dollars in damage. The combined impacts prompted Congress to fund extensive studies of hurricane meteorology and mitigation measures.

Vermont was caught off guard by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, which swept away hundreds of homes. In 1998, Tropical Storm Charley moved nearly 200 miles up the Rio Grande Valley and quickly flooded the arid landscape of Texas, with devastating consequences. The remnants of Hurricane Ida in 2022 caused nearly $84 billion in damage when its heavy rains caused flooding in states from Louisiana to New York.

I am a historical geographer who studies flood hazards and how communities exacerbate and respond to risk. With the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, expected to be exceptionally eventful, storms like this one are a reminder for mountain communities and other inland regions across the United States to prepare.

Hard lessons from the mountains of North Carolina

Western North Carolina is an important case study of a hurricane risk that may seem rare but can have catastrophic consequences, and how some communities are beginning to respond.

In July 1916, the Asheville area was hit by two consecutive tropical storms that destroyed river bridges and roads, washed away businesses, and flooded large parts of the city.

The first tropical storm reached Mississippi and moved into the southern Appalachians. While it lingered over western North Carolina, 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 centimeters) of rain fell in the mountains, which drained into streams and then rivers, including the French Broad.

A week later, a second tropical storm made landfall, this time in South Carolina, heading toward the already soaked bottom of the French Broad River basin, dropping 12 to 15 inches (30 to 38 centimeters) of rain near Brevard. Weather Bureau meteorologists wrote that soaked soils allowed 80 to 90 percent of the new precipitation to drain from the mountains into tributaries of the French Broad River.

In Asheville, the river rose to 23.1 feet – a record high, more than 5 feet higher than any previous or subsequent crest. The water washed away bridges and damaged most businesses and industries in the flood plain.

Dozens of people died in the floods and trade was disrupted for weeks. The Santee River, which flows from the Blue Ridge Mountains toward the sea, destroyed around 280,000 hectares of farmland in South Carolina.

The response to the storms of 1916 was not sufficient

After the storms, there was discussion about replacing some destroyed buildings with flood-proof ones. However, the importance of railroad service and limited land for commercial and industrial use necessitated rebuilding near the river. Congress authorized a flood control study in 1930, but no structural protections were built. Revised building codes and land use restrictions to reduce the impact of flooding came much later.

In September 2004, the region was again hit by a series of tropical storm disasters.

Hurricane Frances reached Florida and eventually moved over the Blue Ridge Mountains into western North Carolina. Remnants of the hurricane dropped 8 to 12 inches of rain near Asheville. Black Mountain received 15 inches of rain, which flowed into a tributary of the French Broad River and caused widespread flooding where the rivers converge. The storm severed a water main and cut off drinking water supplies to Asheville residents.

Shortly after Frances made landfall, Hurricane Ivan slammed into the Alabama coast and moved inland. Over the course of three days, it dumped another four to a foot of rain into the French Broad Basin. Saturated soils on mountain slopes lost their grip, causing numerous landslides. Parts of Asheville and Brevard were flooded. Remnants of Hurricane Jeanne brought more rain to western North Carolina a few days later.

It is not enough to use the past to plan the future

Until now, when planning for disasters like hurricanes, officials have relied on records of past events to make their decisions. But that approach assumes a stable climate, which is not the case.

Warmer temperatures allow the air to hold more moisture, meaning tropical cyclones – and inland thunderstorms – can bring more rain.

This can be particularly problematic when huge storms move inland and cause streams and rivers to overflow their banks. Back-to-back storms can be even more destructive. New development in areas that previously did not flood could become more vulnerable as the climate warms.

Some communities are beginning to think about how the risks might worsen in the future.

In the Asheville area, hurricane risks are now explicitly addressed in Buncombe County’s hazard reduction plan, acknowledging that “future occurrences are likely.”

After the 2004 flood, the county changed the use of a water reservoir to also store floodwater. It also now requires new buildings in the 2004 flooded areas to be built 2 feet above the water table. The city of Brevard, 30 miles south of Asheville, has restricted construction in flood-prone areas to limit future losses.

Asheville has created green spaces along the French Broad River and made efforts to improve stormwater retention behind tributary dams, but changing stormwater drainage systems is costly when existing systems are designed for historic rainfall levels, not the amounts of rain that climate change will bring.

Extreme weather events such as mountain and inland flooding are becoming a more common problem in the United States, and I believe they need to be more widely considered in disaster planning at all levels. To prepare for these future risks, communities must learn from past floods, but also recognize that future storms may cause flooding that exceeds the magnitude of previous floods.

This article has been updated to correct the date of Tropical Storm Irene.

This article was adapted from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization that brings you facts and trusted analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Craig E. Colten, Louisiana State University

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Craig E. Colten received funding from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, but this study was not directly funded.