Dentistry During Helene
Tuesday, September 24th, 2024, we started receiving phone calls from patients for Thursday, September 26, as well as patients for the next week, canceling because of how bad the “Storm” was supposed to be.
I was rolling my eyes and frustrated and felt that everyone was overreacting and reading too much into the news, this was just another calling for snow and us just getting really cold rain thing, right?
Boy, how wrong was I?
Making the Difficult Decision to Close for Safety
By Wednesday, September 25th, when I got home, I was defiantly rethinking every doubt I had about this storm. On Wednesday, the 25th at 8:30pm I reached out to our Dr and let her know the interstate from my house in Hendersonville, NC to Asheville, NC, I-26, was shut down due to being under water.
At 12 AM, we decided to cancel Thursday patients. We sent them a message saying, “Good morning! The safety of our patients and staff is of utmost importance. We have noticed roads that are still flooding, and rain continues to pour down. We have made the decision to close the office tomorrow because we want everyone to stay safe during Hurricane Helene. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and will call on Monday to reschedule.”
By Saturday, September 28th, we had 5 people for Monday call and cancel. I texted my Dr to let her know. She texted me that they had just got out of their neighborhood and had 20 + trees down around them.
I live with my family and by this time we had been without power and water for 24 hours. Thankfully, my dad and brother were able to get out and go to get our generator from the tiny house.
Sunday September 29th I finally heard from my Dr. She told me they got out and evacuated to SC. She told me the number of trees and power down were absolutely devastating to see.
Returning to the Office and Supporting a Community in Recovery
Once we were able to get into the office there was no water and no internet, Dr. Merrell had bought a Dry vac to be installed and had a porta potty put outside, no water means no functioning toilets. We were without internet, so we had two starlinks set up. Thankfully star link had a month free subscription for Helene victims.
Tuesday, October 15th, was the first time we were all able to get back to the office, so 3 weeks out of the office in total. We went in and shocked all the lines and checked for any other damages. Having to reconnect all computers to the starlinks and making sure x-rays worked etc. was something I really hope I never have to do again.
6 Months later and some people are still not fully recovered. Asheville will never be the same. The place I was born and raised, I don’t even recognize. Places I would often go to have been closed permanently. Some roads and bridges still are not open. I still cannot drive all the way down tunnel road. Lowes is still closed and Aldi is still in the process of being rebuilt.
So many people lost so much and being able to still have our dental office and still have a familiar place for our patients to come to has been everything. I know the dentist is nobody’s favorite place to be but having the ability to really love on our community and be a support system has been really nice see.
The Lasting Impact and Unprecedented Destruction
Here are some facts that I have found on the devastation that Hurricane Helene caused in my hometown.
Hurricane Helene was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the continental U.S. in 19 years and ranks among the nation’s costliest weather disasters—just two findings of a just released final report from the National Hurricane Center.
Of the 175 deaths that occurred during the storm, 94 were attributed to rainfall flooding, which included floods triggered by landslides and debris flows. This higher fraction of deaths from flooding rain is consistent with recent findings from the NHC in U.S. hurricane deaths since 2013.
Given the severity of the destructive flash flooding, that’s not surprising.
However, 65 deaths during Helene were attributed to its winds, the most for any mainland U.S. hurricane in at least 61 years, according to the NHC. 61 of those 65 wind deaths were due to falling trees, a long underreported danger in various high wind events, not just in tropical cyclones.
Particularly striking was the NHC map of these direct deaths by type below. Notice how all of these fatalities in Helene’s case were to the right (in this case, east) of its track, typically the side with the strongest winds, heaviest rain and highest storm surge.
Both the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers in Asheville, North Carolina, shattered their previous record crests from 1916.
Helene’s winds knocked out power to an estimated 7.4 million customers in the Southeast, according to an estimate from poweroutage.us.
Helene’s wind damage potential was not only due to its Category 4 intensity at landfall. It was also because it moved fast – 30 mph forward speed when inland – and the ground previously soaked by heavy rain made it easier for trees to topple over.
Helene produced a 106-mph gust atop North Carolina’s Mt. Mitchell, a 100-mph gust in Alma, Georgia, and a 99-mph gust in Perry, Florida. After Helene transitioned to a post-tropical remnant low, it still produced 60 to 70 mph wind gusts for a time in parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
About the Author
Lauren Watt, MAADOM
I am a proud single mother to a spirited 3-year-old girl and the oldest of five siblings—so multitasking and leadership have always been part of my life! I started my dental career in 2018 at a prosthodontist’s office, and I’ve been passionate about helping people smile ever since. Dentistry has been more than a job for me—it’s a way to connect, care, and keep learning every day.
