Dangerous storm bears down on WNC
A growing tropical storm that’s expected to become a major hurricane is tracking through the Gulf of Mexico and appears to be headed right for Western North Carolina. Local officials aren’t taking any chances.
Don’t weaken floodplain ordinance
To the Editor:
The following comments relate to the ongoing discussion about changing the Macon County floodplain ordinance to allow fill to be added. The answer to the added fill question should be a resounding “no” for reasons that I will cite below.
Pray for the best, prepare for the worst
After what Haywood County has been through does anyone want to think about the hurricane season from June 1 to November 30? After watching my office being destroyed in 2004 along with most of Downtown Canton, I sure don’t want to be reminded. But we need to be.
The Naturalist's Corner: Climate change brings more challenges
WNC Climate Action Coalition’s screening of David Weintraub’s new documentary “Guardians of our Troubled Waters” is both a history lesson and a call to action.
The film, made in collaboration with the Wilma Dykeman Legacy Foundation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Conserving Carolina, Mountain True, Clean Water Expected in East Tennessee, Friends of the Everglades and Haywood Waterways Association, will be aired at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Lake Junaluska Assembly Terrace Auditorium at 689 North Lakeshore Drive. There will be a panel discussion following the film. The panel will include filmmaker David Weintraub, Eric Romaniszyn of Haywood Waterways, Callie Moore of Mountain True and more.
Free camping available for Dorian evacuees
The U.S. Forest Service is waiving fees at campgrounds across its southern region — which includes the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest — for people displaced by Hurricane Dorian.
2004: Floods ravage Western North Carolina
The tiny central Haywood County town of Clyde lies more than 270 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, more than 400 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and more than 2,500 feet above both of them, so it must have seemed like a cruel joke when back-to-back hurricanes over the course of about a week caused unprecedented regional flooding.
Hurricane prep begins in Western North Carolina
As The Smoky Mountain News went to print Tuesday, a potentially catastrophic storm was barreling down on the Carolinas, with North Carolina poised to bear the brunt of it.