Severe Weather

[Ben E Lou]

I’m at Costco. I have to get on I-40E briefly to get here. It’s a loop entry where you can get on E or W. Above the West entrance, the big board simply said in all caps “DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL TO WESTERN NC.”

EDIT: To be clear, IIRC it’s roughly a 2.5-hour drive to Asheville from there.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Dear God. There is also a dam break that has the town of Newport, Tn evacuated. There are reports from scanners there have been other dam breaks where people where not told or able to get out. There is likely going to be a significant death toll in Tennessee/North Carolina.

Another view of Unicoi County Hospital in Tennessee.
Rescue operation with helicopters underway now. pic.twitter.com/5wbOZeaW9Y
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) September 27, 2024

Holy shit that's out of a movie.

[RainMaker]

The videos coming out of North Carolina are insane too.

Asheville, NC #ncpol pic.twitter.com/Bv6Ch5zXzi

— Margo (@MargoinWNC) September 27, 2024

[Ksyrup]

I've been trying to get a hold of my brother and my parents for a couple of hours and haven't gotten through. I'm hoping it's just the phone lines are jammed or something.

Those pictures are unbelievable. And as a reminder of why I don't spend time on Twitter any more, that woman's feed is half natural devastation and half pro-Trump devastation. I felt dirty just scrolling through to find the storm-related content.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The videos coming out of North Carolina are insane too.

And large swaths of the area have had no cell coverage for hours.

[Ksyrup]

That's what I hope is going on with my family because I can't get through to anyone.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That's what I hope is going on with my family because I can't get through to anyone.

To give you more hope in that arena, I have two friends, one in Sylva and the other in Black Mountain, both of whom are in what they’ve described today as being very safe locations, who had been posting tons of updates to social media. Both stopped posting in the early afternoon today and have been silent since, and I’ve seen multiple posts from parents and grandparents of WCU students saying that their child/grandchild has no service and can’t be contacted.

[Ksyrup]

Thanks. At first I thought I wasn't hearing anything because they were dealing with assessing the damage to my brother's house and cleaning up, but it's been hours so it must be the cell service.

[RainMaker]

Yeah, there's going to be some massive damage to cell towers and other infrastructure. Plus so many people trying to connect at the same time to what's left. You might not hear from them for a day or two depending on how extensive the damage is.