The Hurricane Helene History Map is published | News

Almost a year after Hurricane Helene, the Noaa published a history card entitled “Helene in Southern Appalachia”, which offers an overview of the disaster that struck the region at the end of September 2024. The card of history details the events that led to Hélène, the hurricane itself, and the destruction and the tragedy that left it in its wake. It also provides a calendar of the recovery in the region of the region and the current NOAA contributions to the minimization of the effects of disasters like Helene.

Hurricane

On September 26, 2024, following a predecessor rain event, Helene hit the landing in Florida and traveled north, bringing heavy rains and winds in Georgia, Tennessee and Carolines before dissipating two days later. The hurricane brought catastrophic floods and landslides in the region, which caused general destruction to buildings and infrastructure. More than 200 people were killed in the disaster and the thousands of thousands were damaged or destroyed. Many in the region have been left without electricity or running water for more than a month. Overall, the disaster caused around $ 78.7 billion in damages, making it the seventh most expensive American tropical cyclone since 1980. Scientists have determined that Hurricane Helene was an event 1 in 1000.

What is a history card?

History cards are multimedia educational web pages – created using the ArcGIS Storymaps program – which integrate text, photos, graphics, videos, sound files, etc. To create an immersive learning environment. The experience of parading through one is comparable to that of walking in an interactive exhibition in an science museum. History cards bring scientific subjects to life; This makes them ideal for telling natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, because the devastation that they can cause by reading simply to them, but not intuitively felt.

Near their home

Although monitoring and analyzing natural disasters data are some of the main functions of NCEI, the organization had never been found in the middle of one. Helene was the exception: as the NCEI head office is located in Asheville, in North Carolina, it was located directly on the road to the hurricane, leading to operations disturbances. Employees were also affected; Many have suffered damage to their homes, while others have completely lost their house and continue to recover from the disaster to date. The card of history emphasizes the effects of the Hélène on NCEI and in the surrounding region of Asheville, in order to remind readers that no place is entirely safe from natural disasters.