Speaking of old storm history, I just recently found out that Asheville was flooded by 2 tropical storms in 1916.
www.frenchbroadrafting.com/blog/remembering-the-flood-of-1916
"The roots of the natural disaster began on July 5, 1916 when the skies opened up, and it rained for six days straight. When the weather cleared, the ground was completely saturated. What was needed was weeks of hot, dry weather. It wasn’t to be.On July 14, 1916 a hurricane made landfall in Charleston, South Carolina, and by the morning of the 15th the center of the storm had reached WNC. The hurricane dumped as much as 15 - 22 inches of rain in 24 hours in some areas. At the time, it was the greatest 24-hour precipitation total ever recorded in the United States.
It was estimated that up to 90% of the rain that fell became runoff. The rains finally stopped, but the trouble for the people of WNC was just beginning as rivers rose and overflowed their banks.At 4:10 a.m. Sunday morning, July 16, the Swannanoa River jumped its banks and spread out toward the Biltmore Village neighborhood and the French Broad River. Hours later, earthen dams broke at Kanuga and Osceola Lakes in Henderson County, launching a wall of water into Asheville’s riverfront.
The French Broad River crested at an estimated 21 feet, 17 feet above flood stage. The average width of the French Broad near Asheville was 381 feet in 1916. During the flood, it was approximately 1,300 feet across. Along the Catawba River, the flooding was similar. In some locations along its path, the Catawba rose almost 23 feet beyond previous high-water marks.Estimated damage costs over the region exceeded $22 million, which equates to roughly $480 million by today's standards. It is also estimated that 80 people died as a result of the flood.It is difficult to grasp the devastation that swept across our area.
It is only in reading the quotes from citizens who lived through the flood that one begins to truly understand the impact of Flood of 1916 on the people of Western North Carolina."
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