Last Updated on September 26, 2026 7:54 am
Sunday marks two years since Hurricane Helene tore through the North Carolina High Country, and looking back at WataugaOnline's own coverage from that week is a reminder of how quickly things changed — from routine storm-watch warnings to a multi-county state of emergency in less than 48 hours.
Here's how it unfolded, in our own real-time reporting from that week:
Wednesday, September 25, 2024: The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Watauga County as the outer bands of what was then still a developing system moved through — a quiet prelude to what was coming. WataugaOnline began tracking the potential impacts of a tropical system that would soon be named Helene.
Thursday, September 26, 2024: Conditions escalated fast. The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado near Blowing Rock overnight. By that afternoon, Watauga County, the Town of Boone, the Town of Blowing Rock, and Avery County had all declared states of emergency:
• Watauga County's Declaration of a State of Emergency
• Town of Boone under State of Emergency
• Town of Blowing Rock declares State of Emergency
• Avery County declares State of Emergency, curfew in effect
Flood warnings for Watauga, Ashe, and Wilkes counties were already in effect and would be renewed repeatedly over the next 24 hours as rain bands stacked up ahead of the storm's arrival.
Friday, September 27, 2024: As Helene's remnants moved through the mountains, a Flash Flood Warning was issued for Watauga, Ashe, and Wilkes counties. Blue Ridge Energy crews were already battling severe conditions as thousands lost power to high winds and falling trees. A boil water advisory was issued for the Town of Boone the same day.
Monday, September 30, 2024: With widespread outages continuing, WataugaOnline itself announced it was working on limited operation due to storm impacts. Watauga County Emergency Services issued an update on recovery efforts, the Boone boil water advisory was lifted (with some areas still without water), Skyline/SkyBest issued a customer update, and we reported that storm devastation was leading to extended outages across the region.
In the weeks that followed, the scope of Helene's toll on the High Country and western North Carolina became fully clear — lives lost, homes destroyed, roads and bridges washed away, and a recovery effort that continues today, two years later.
You can revisit WataugaOnline's full archive of Helene coverage, from the first warnings through today's recovery updates, at wataugaonline.com.
