As flooding, wind and landslides from Tropical Storm Helene devastated lives and property across parts of Southern Appalachia, the storm also wrought ecological destruction.
Biologists and other experts are still struggling to reach areas of Western North Carolina wrecked by storms to assess the damage. Some are facing the impacts of Helene on their own lives.
But as early appraisals of the havoc begin, one outcome is clear: Some stretches of habitat in Western North Carolina could take decades to recover.
“What these ecosystems will look like in the next 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, will potentially be drastically different than what it would have looked like if this storm hadn’t happened,” said Falyn Owens, a wildlife extension biologist at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
“Hurricane Helene has impacted this area in a way that we have not seen yet in recorded history.”
How did Helene affect aquatic habitat?
Dead fish were found in spades at the Armstrong State Fish Hatchery in McDowell County, following storm damage from Tropical Storm Helene. All of the hatchery’s 600,000 fish were lost either by escapement or death, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
As turbulent floodwaters tore homes and businesses asunder, huge amounts of sediment were moved along the way.
Aquatic habitats are highly sensitive to changes in turbidity, or the amount of particles, like silt, in the water. Floods and landslides reshaped swaths of habitat, and more could be severely damaged by sediment loads.
“We definitely anticipate that the biggest, longest-term effects of the hurricane are going to mostly impact aquatic species and aquatic habitats,” Owens said.
“A huge amount of human-made debris has been washed into riparian areas, which will likely cause water quality issues for many months” in Western North Carolina, according to a statement from Miranda Turner, a wildlife health biologist with the Wildlife Resources Commission.
Get the Daily Briefing newsletter in your inbox.
The day’s top stories, from sports to movies to politics to world events.
Delivery: Daily
Your Email
“The severity of the water quality issues will depend on what type of debris and toxicants were released during the storm and how much of them ended up in important wildlife habitats, but the potential impact to fish, amphibians, and reptiles may be extensive.”
Biologists are just beginning to assess the scale of the harm.
“It’s going to take a long time, months, if not years, to really understand what the impacts have been for the wide variety of aquatic species that we do track,” Owens said.
Hellbenber salamanders, sometimes known as “water dogs” or “snot otters” are in serious decline across Western North Carolina.
The destruction has already befallen the eastern hellbender, for example — a rare salamander, and the largest amphibian in North America — whose critical habitat was devastated by Helene, The Citizen Times previously reported.
And in McDowell County, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission reported
