Hurricane Helene (September 2024) caused catastrophic damage to Asheville, NC, resulting in an estimated $60 billion in losses for North Carolina and at least 108 deaths statewide (with 43 in Buncombe County). The storm unleashed historic rainfall that caused the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers to burst their banks, wiping out the River Arts District and Biltmore Village, destroying 2,300 structures, and triggering over 300 landslides that severed major roadways like I-26 and I-40.
North America was the last continent to civilize. Why was that? May be it is the ubiquitous hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, draughts. Very few other places on earth have all of these natural disasters present together.