Hurricane Helene

On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm before moving into Georgia with continued catastrophic Category 2 winds. The storm caused life-threatening flash and urban flooding, including numerous significant landslides in the southern Appalachian region. Widespread flooding also impacted northwestern, northern, and southeastern Florida.

The EPA worked closely with federal, state, local, and Tribal partners to support community recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. The agency focused on assisting with water system stabilization and helped coordinate storm debris and hazardous waste removal. No releases from Superfund sites were reported in the storm’s path. EPA personnel were deployed to regional and national operations centers to offer technical assistance, guidance, and support throughout the response. EPA Southeast worked closely with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) after the emergency response to host workshops at North Carolina Councils of Government. These workshops are used to teach local governments/utilities about supplemental appropriations approved by congress and assist local utilities to submit pre-applications with resiliency projects. EPA’s transition from disaster response to disaster recovery has been seamless and the region and the division continue to practice exemplary cooperative federalism to help expedite the state rebuild its water infrastructure.

EPA remains actively engaged in the ongoing cleanup at Douglas Lake, Tennessee, in coordination with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and other response agencies. EPA’s role is to assist with the debris removal process by evaluating collected materials for potential toxic or hazardous substances. If any materials are determined to be harmful to human health or the environment, EPA ensures they are safely and properly disposed of.