More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast in the last week from Hurricane Helene and two other other storm systems. That’s enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys stadium 51,000 times, or enough to fill all of Lake Tahoe. It could also fill more than 60 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Ryan Maue, a former NOAA scientist, came up with the 40 trillion number using precipitation measurements made in 2.5-by-2.5-mile grids. The measurements were calculated by satellites and ground observations.
“I have not seen something in my 25 years of working at the weather service that is this geographically large of an extent and the sheer volume of water that fell from the sky,” Ed Clark, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, told The Associated Press,
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At least 130 people have died across six states with many more reported missing on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Hundreds of roads are closed. Some people have hiked hours to try to get to their family. On Tuesday, 1.5 million customers were without power.
President Joe Biden is expected to fly over Asheville Wednesday, Oct. 2. The damage is currently so bad, his motorcade cannot make it through.
