Hurricane Helene’s Historic Flooding Stripped Farmland Soil—Farmers Struggle to Rebuild Years Later

Will Runion’s 736-acre cattle and hay farm sits in a horseshoe bend of the Nolichucky River in northeast Tennessee. On the morning of Friday, September 27, 2024, he was working on two major projects: constructing a riverfront campground to attract tourists and generate income, and harvesting the last of the season’s hay.

Hurricane Helene, which had traveled up from Florida toward the Appalachian Mountains, brought heavy rain and swollen river waters. Though the banks appeared stable, Runion made the precautionary decision to move his cows and equipment to higher ground. Within hours, the situation worsened. By around 11 a.m., the brown floodwaters breached the riverbanks. Runion, his fiancée, his son-in-law’s parents, and neighbors rushed to save farm equipment, but the rapidly expanding river cut off their escape route, trapping them in a low-lying area.

By afternoon, the river had expanded to nearly 1,200 feet wide—nearly 10 times its normal width. Runion described the scene as looking "just like a lake." Trees snapped in the swift current, while debris from neighbors’ barns, roofs, hay bales, and household items swirled past. His hay equipment was swept away, and the little white house he had planned to use as the campground’s office was carried across a field.

By around 8 p.m., the Nolichucky River finally crested and began to recede. Runion returned to find one-third of his fields buried under debris, dead fish, and tomatoes washed downstream from upstream vegetable growers. The flood had carved two football field-sized craters in his hay pastures, each 12 feet deep. Other sections of his farm were smothered under up to 8 feet of sand or silt.

Flooding from Hurricane Helene caused massive damage to Will Runion’s farm, eroding land in some areas and burying fields in up to 8 feet of sand or silt. Courtesy of Bryan LeBarre

Hurricane Helene’s Widespread Agricultural Devastation

Hurricane Helene dumped up to 30 inches of rain across southern Appalachia, triggering historic flooding and landslides in parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia. This largely rural region relies on agriculture as both an economic driver and cultural cornerstone.

The mountainous terrain limits farmland expansion, forcing many growers to cultivate flood-prone bottomlands due to their flat and fertile soil. However, floods of this magnitude had not struck the area in generations.

In North Carolina alone, agricultural losses from Helene exceeded $4.9 billion. Tennessee reported agricultural damages of approximately $1.3 billion. Thousands of farmers lost crops, tools, machinery, barns, buildings, livestock, and fencing. More than a year later, the damage extends beyond visible destruction—farmers are now facing the loss of something far more critical and irreplaceable: their topsoil.

Soil Erosion: The Silent Crisis for Farmers

Runion understood immediately that his livelihood was at stake. "When you see 4 feet of sandy soil on top of your topsoil, you know that’s going to