Last Updated on November 1, 2024 1:17 pm
N.C. Forest Service personnel have completed an aerial forestland damage assessment in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The assessment is an estimate of damage to the timber resource. An estimated 822,000 acres of timberland received some level of damage during the storm, resulting in an estimated $214,000,000 of timber damage on all North Carolina forest lands. Damage distribution between land ownership was estimated to be:
78% private (private individuals, corporations, and other ownerships)
21% public (US Forest Service and other public ownerships)
1% reserved lands (reserved areas such as park lands)
The heaviest damage was confined to a six-county area with Buncombe and McDowell counties being at the center of this area.
