One day after a once-in-a-thousand-year rainstorm, southern Appalachia is facing Hurricane Helene

“The tropical system doesn’t even exist yet, so you can understand there’s a lot of concern here,” said Christopher Godfrey, professor and chair of the department of atmospheric sciences at the University of North Carolina Asheville.

Godfrey said the rain overnight Wednesday was due to a rare precursor event in which a front stalled over the region and pushed moisture northward from the tropical storm.

“If we didn’t have the tropical system, we would still have a rainy day,” Godfrey said. “But as the tropical system develops, the southerly flow that brings in this moisture also strengthens.”

According to the Asheville Museum of History, 25 people died in 1916 after floods devastated western North Carolina, sweeping away entire buildings after the remnants of tropical storms brought extreme rainfall. Friends and family watched as their loved ones were swept downstream. The local power plant was destroyed and the railroad was severely damaged, cutting Asheville off from the rest of the world.

Buncombe County officials warned that flooding in the next few days could rival or exceed events in 1916.