{"id":109265,"date":"2024-10-01T21:47:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T14:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109265"},"modified":"2024-10-01T21:47:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T14:47:14","slug":"nowhere-is-safe-shattered-asheville-shows-stunning-reach-of-climate-crisis-hurricane-helene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109265","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Nowhere is safe\u2019: shattered Asheville shows stunning reach of climate crisis | Hurricane Helene"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:500;\" class=\"dcr-15rw6c2\">N<\/span>estled in the bucolic Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina and far from any coast, Asheville was touted as a climate \u201chaven\u201d from extreme weather. Now the historic city has been devastated and cut off by Hurricane Helene\u2019s catastrophic floodwaters, in a stunning display of the climate crisis\u2019s unlimited reach in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Helene, which crunched into the western Florida coast as a category 4 hurricane on Thursday, brought darkly familiar carnage to a stretch of that state that has experienced three such storms in the past 13 months, flattening coastal homes and tossing boats inland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">But as the storm, with winds peaking at 140mph (225 km\/h), carved a path northwards, it mangled places in multiple states that have never seen such impacts, obliterating small towns, hurling trees on to homes, unmooring houses that then floated in the floodwater, plunging millions of people into power blackouts and turning major roads into rivers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"a6c539ef-b5e7-4734-bbe3-b31f23e5d1e3\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1your1i\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:3,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Over 120 dead and a million without power after \u2018historic\u2019 Hurricane Helene&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;a6c539ef-b5e7-4734-bbe3-b31f23e5d1e3&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/sep\/30\/hurricane-helene-deaths-damage&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:0,&quot;design&quot;:10}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">In all, about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/sep\/30\/hurricane-helene-deaths-damage\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">100 people have died across five states<\/a>, with nearly a third of these deaths occurring in the county containing Asheville, a city of historic architecture where new residents have flocked amid <a href=\"https:\/\/wlos.com\/news\/local\/climate-haven-more-people-moving-to-asheville-to-escape-more-severe-climate-change-impact\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">boasts<\/a> by real estate agents of a place that offers a reprieve from \u201ccrazy\u201d extreme weather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Now, major highways into Asheville have been severed by flooding from surging rainfall, its mud-caked and debris-strewn center turned into a place where access to cellphone reception, gasoline and food is scarce. The water supply, as well as the roads, is expected to be affected for weeks. It is, according to Roy Cooper, North Carolina\u2019s governor, an \u201cunprecedented tragedy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cEveryone thought this was a safe place, somewhere you could move with your kids for the long term, so this is just unimaginable, it\u2019s catastrophic,\u201d said Anna Jane Joyner, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodenergystories.com\/about\/team\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a climate campaigner<\/a> who grew up in the area and whose family still lives in Black Mountain, near Asheville. Several of her friends narrowly avoided being swept away by the floodwater.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cI never, ever considered the idea that Asheville would be wiped out,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was our backup plan to move there, so the irony is stark and scary and it\u2019s hard for me to emotionally process. I\u2019ve been working in the climate movement for 20 years and feel like I\u2019m now living in a movie I imagined in my head when I started. Nowhere is safe now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The damage wrought by Helene is \u201ca staggering and horrific reminder of the ways that the climate crisis can turbocharge extreme weather\u201d, according to Al Gore, the former US vice-president. Hurricanes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/mar\/07\/hurricane-strength-global-warming-intensification\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">gain strength<\/a> from heat in the ocean and atmosphere and Helene, one of the largest ever documented, sped across a record-hot Gulf, quickly turning from a category 1 to a category 4 storm within a day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Extra heat not only helps storms spin faster, it also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.woodwellclimate.org\/how-climate-change-is-affecting-hurricanes\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">holds more atmospheric moisture<\/a> that is then unleashed in torrents upon places such as western North Carolina, which got a month\u2019s rain in just a couple of days. Helene was the eighth category 4 or 5 hurricane to strike the US since 2017 \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DrJeffMasters\/status\/1839509585918402648\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the same number<\/a> of such extreme storms to hit the country in the previous 57 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThis storm has the fingerprints of climate change all over it,\u201d said Kathie Dello, North Carolina\u2019s state climatologist. \u201cThe ocean was warm and it grew and grew and there was a lot of water in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, our worst fears came true. Helene was supercharged by climate change and we should expect more storms like this going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Dello said that it would take months or even years for communities, particularly in the poorer, more rural areas of the state that have been cut off completely by the storm, to recover, compounding the impacts of previous storms such as Florence, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/video\/2018\/sep\/16\/storm-florence-footage-shows-scale-of-flooding-in-north-carolina-video\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">in 2018<\/a>, and Fred, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/aug\/16\/tropical-storm-fred-florida-panhandle-landfall\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">in 2021<\/a>, that pose major questions over how, if at all, to rebuild.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cI don\u2019t know where you run to escape climate change. Everywhere has some sort of risk,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really been quite rattling to see these places which you love be devastated, knowing they have been changed forever. We can\u2019t just rebuild like before.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"e2335d69-f1db-40cd-a34e-c50f8246a1b6\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1fujct4\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Heavy rains from Hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage in Asheville, North Carolina.<\/span> Photograph: Melissa Sue Gerrits\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">In Asheville, the historic area of Biltmore Village has been submerged underwater while, in a gloomy irony, the US\u2019s premier climate data center has been knocked offline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The storm has been \u201cdevastating for our folks in Asheville\u201d, said a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who said the National Centers for Environmental Information facility had lost its water supply and had shut down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cEven those who are physically safe are generally without power, water or connectivity,\u201d the spokesperson said of the effort to contact the center\u2019s marooned staff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The destruction may cast a shadow over the climate-haven reputation of Asheville, much like how Vermont\u2019s apparent distance from the climate crisis has been rethought in the wake of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/jul\/11\/vermont-flooding-dam-montpelier\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">recent<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/article\/2024\/jul\/30\/vermont-floods-storm-destruction-boat-rescues\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">floods<\/a>, but it probably won\u2019t defy a broader trend where Americans are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2021\/aug\/16\/us-climate-change-americans-census-data\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">flocking<\/a> to some of the places most at risk from heatwaves, storms and other climate impacts due to the ready availability of housing and jobs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThis flood will likely accelerate development,\u201d said Jesse Keenan, an expert in climate adaptation at Tulane University, who noted that for every one person who moves away from Asheville, three people move to the city, one of the highest such ratios in the US.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cSome people will not be inclined or unable to rebuild and their properties will be bought up by wealthy people who can afford to build private infrastructure and buildings that have the engineering resilience to withstand floods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThere is no truly safe place,\u201d Keenan, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/04\/21\/climate-change-encourages-homeowners-to-reconsider-legacy-cities.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">previously listed<\/a> Asheville as one of the better places to move amid the climate crisis, acknowledged. But the city will \u201csee a post-disaster boom\u201d, he said. \u201cThis is a cycle that has happened over and over again in America.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/oct\/01\/hurricane-helene-asheville-climate-change-nowhere-safe\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nestled in the bucolic Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina and far from any coast, Asheville was touted as a climate \u201chaven\u201d from extreme weather. Now the historic city &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109265\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}