Hurricane Helene Update: Trail Damage, Volunteer Needs, and Restoration Success Stories
Friends,
This has been a trying time for all of us, and many people in our communities are dealing with severe impacts from Hurricane Helene, which struck this area with devastating force. We wish you the very best as you work to recover, rebuild, and support others in your community.
As we shared on Oct. 3, we are very grateful that all of our staff and AmeriCorps members came through the storm safely. Now that roads are more passable and power is back for many of us, we are hard at work assessing the impacts of the storm to Conserving Carolina’s trails, preserves, and projects, so we can begin repairing the damage.
Support our hurricane Helene response
At our restoration projects along the French Broad River, we’ve also found some good news about how they worked to reduce local flooding during the storm.
We know that many of you have expressed willingness to volunteer and we will gratefully take you up on that as soon as the time is right!
Here are some updates that we can share with you at this time.
Conserving Carolina trails remain closed.
Our trails are located in some of the areas that were hardest hit by floods and landslides. All Conserving Carolina trails are closed at this time. In some cases, roads to the trailheads are badly damaged or gone altogether. Local residents are doing everything they can to come back from some of the worst impacts of this terrible storm. The last thing they need are crowds of people coming out on damaged roads, attempting to hike unsafe trails, and potentially placing more demands on already overstretched fire and rescue squads.
As we begin to assess the damage on our trails, we are finding very significant impacts: numerous trees down, gaping holes torn out by root balls, damaged steps and bridges, landslides over trails, and more. And we are only beginning to assess the impacts from Helene. It will take time before conditions on our trails, on the roads to reach them, and in surrounding communities allow us to reopen. Although we are not yet holding volunteer activities, in the coming months, we will welcome volunteers help us fix the trails.
At this time, all Conserving Carolina trails are closed including:
- Bearwallow Mountain
- Wildcat Rock Trail
- Florence Nature Preserve
- Norman Wilder Forest
- Youngs Mountain Trail
- Strawberry Gap Trail
We are assessing damage to our trails and preserves.
Conserving Carolina owns more than 50 properties with trails, nature preserves, and restoration projects, and virtually all of them sustained damage during Hurricane Helene. To even begin to assess damage on this scale we needed to develop new tools and action plans.
With these tools in place, we are now systematically visiting all of the properties we own, noting the location, severity, and priority of various impacts, and making plans to fix the damage.
Workdays and events are suspended for now—but we will need a lot of volunteer help.
Community events have been suspended through the end of the year and our community engagement team has pivoted to help our land management team address impacts from the storm. For updates, you can check our calendar or subscribe to our monthly Events email. All of our regular volunteer workdays have been suspended for now. First, we want to assess impacts on our properties and we want to ensure the safety of our volunteers.
However, in the coming months, we will need a lot of help from volunteers, especially with repairing our trails. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up here. When it’s time to start volunteering, we will let you know! We will gratefully accept all the help you can give.
Restorations were helpful in controlling floodwater and sediment.
A ray of light comes from our natural floodplain restoration projects along the French Broad River. First of all, they held up remarkably well. We were worried that the intense flooding might damage recently installed features such as sloughs, wetlands, and restored streams—especially considering that trees and vegetation have not had much time to take root and stabilize the ground. Instead, we found that our restoration projects were not structurally damaged.
We also found that they did their job. When we took on these natural floodplain restorations, one goal was that they would help control floodwater. By bringing back natural floodplains, we created a place for stormwater to naturally and safely spill over and soak into wetlands and pools. When we look at what happened during Hurricane Helene at just three of our larger restoration projects—Mouth of Mud Creek, Pleasant Grove, and Kings Bridge—we find that these three sites stored 2,100 acre-feet of water. Picture 2,100 acres covered by a foot of water. That’s how much floodwater was held in these floodplain restorations.
The three restorations stored more floodwater than 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. While this is a small volume in the context of a major flood like Hurricane Helene, these restorations played an important role in reducing local flooding and alleviating some of the strain on downstream waterways.
As we look ahead, the cumulative effect of more restoration projects like these can make an even greater difference. By expanding natural floodplains and wetlands, we can significantly enhance the ability of our landscapes to manage floodwater and protect communities from increasingly severe weather events. Each additional project contributes to a more resilient network of flood control that will better safeguard both natural ecosystems and human communities.
The restorations also helped with water quality. We found about half an inch of sediment covering the ground over much of these sites. That’s a lot of soil! The restored natural floodplains were successful in creating a place for the river to spread out, slow down, and deposit sediment, rather than carrying it downstream as water pollution.
As we begin to move forward from this devastating storm, knowing that climate change is making extreme weather events more likely, we see a large role for wetlands and natural floodplains in making our communities more resilient.
Thank you for all your ongoing support! In times like this we all need community more than ever, and we are so grateful to know that we can count on you!