The original post: /r/askscience by /u/smugmug1961 on 2024-10-03 15:34:30.

So, we had historic floods produced by Helene dropping so much water. What was unique about this storm that it did so much more damage?

It seems like we’ve had Cat 2/1 storms go ashore before and not do this. Did Helene have more water than others or did it happen to drop what it had in more concentrated or vulnerable places?

I know in the Asheville area, they had already had a bunch of rain the week before so the ground was saturated and that contributed to the problem. Is that the main reason?