In late September last year, Hurricane Helene blew into the mountains of Western North Carolina (WNC), dumping more than 10-20 inches of rain on ground that was already saturated. The flooding that followed devastated homes, businesses, infrastructure, and human lives, and changed the landscape of many communities forever.
Fortunately, Macon County was spared the worst of the carnage. The Little Tennessee River at Needmore normally flows between 400-500 cfs (cubic feet per second) during September; late in the day on Sept. 27 it peaked at around 15,000 cfs. However, flows over 10,000 cfs are not too unusual, and during major floods in the past the river has gone over 16,000 cfs. Unfortunately, just to the east and north of us, the watersheds of the French Broad, Nolichucky, Pigeon, and other rivers reached unprecedented levels. Some of the river flow gauges themselves were obliterated.
So, how did this disaster affect fish and aquatic habitats? The consensus answer is: It is too early to tell.
In some cases, the direct impact was immediate and obvious. For example, the Armstrong state fish hatchery in McDowell County had severe damage to the infrastructure and roads. Over 600,000 fish were lost, including broodfish.
The facility is closed until damage is repaired – estimated January 2026. The result will be a reduction in the number of trout stocked by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) throughout WNC in 2025 and possibly for subsequent years. According to a 2023 NCWRC report, trout fishing alone contributes $1.38 billion annually to the N.C. economy.
This is a temporary setback; of greater concern is the impact on wild fish and other aquatic animals and on the stream and river habitats that support them. Extreme flooding can have an immediate impact by killing fish and other aquatic life, washing them downstream and destroying eggs and spawning beds.
One species that was likely hit very hard is the Eastern Hellbender, a large salamander that was already declining throughout much of its original range. The shrunken core range where it was doing fairly well overlaps almost perfectly with the Helene devastation map. In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, multiple reports came in of dead/dying hellbenders washed up by the floodwaters. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed listing the species as Endangered on Dec. 13, 2024.
The effect on habitat is likely more severe and long-term; floods may completely change the streambed and in some cases reroute a stream. Rocks and boulders are moved around, and the stream bottom may be scoured of fine sand/sediment down to bedrock, both of which temporarily wipe out aquatic insects and crustaceans and destroy spawning habitat for fish. This effect is most pronounced in higher elevation headwater streams. Riparian vegetation (trees and plants alongside the stream) is impacted, and it may take years or decades to recover.
According to Matt Kulp, supervisory fisheries biologist for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), the Cataloochee and Big Creek watersheds in the GSMNP were heavily impacted by the storm. The flow gauge on Cataloochee Creek registered 8270 cfs during the event – the highest ever recorded. In addition to washed-out roads (still closed at the time of this writing) and damaged buildings, the headwater streams in the Cataloochee area were scoured and in some cases the streambed drastically altered. Some stream sections that used to be a few feet wide are now a field of debris several hundred feet wide, and even the moss and algae have been scrubbed from the rocks.
Domino effect
Another potentially significant impact is from all the trash and chemicals washed into rivers. The force of the Helene floodwaters washed everything imaginable downstream: building materials, cars and RVs, propane tanks, gasoline, refrigerators, and raw sewage. Much of the combined debris from the French Broad, Nolichucky, and Pigeon rivers ended up in Douglas reservoir in east Tennessee, where the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) had to install a mile-long boom to prevent it from reaching the dam. The long-term effect this will have on water chemistry and aquatic organisms is unknown.
The storm also had an immediate negative impact on fly shops and fishing guides, from both the physical and environmental damage and from the instant drop in tourism. According to Ernie King, owner of Fish Tales Outfitters & Guide Service in Franklin, all of his guided trips scheduled for October and November were cancelled. Even though many of the waters on which they guide fishing trips were not significantly impacted, the media message of “don’t come to Western N.C.” took its toll. The winter months are generally slow for the guide business, so he says they have not done enough trips yet to evaluate the state of the fisheries.
Another successful guide business that I have used for smallmouth float trips on the French Broad and Nolichucky rivers essentially folded the day after the storm. When I contacted the owner recently, he said the immediate stop on tourism was fatal to his business; he has had to take another job.
Assessing ongoing issues
As winter gives way to spring and summer, state and federal agencies and conservation organizations will be in the field doing surveys that will hopefully provide some answers on the state of fish and their habitats.
According to Matt Kulp with the GSMNP, floods and droughts are the main drivers of wild trout populations in the southern Appalachians. Droughts affect adult fish the most, while floods are more impactful to juveniles, and depending on the timing, can wipe out an entire year-class of young fish. Brown trout and our native brook trout spawn in the late fall; rainbow trout spawn in the late winter/early spring. The timing of the storm – after juvenile rainbows had gotten a good start and before brookies and browns had laid their eggs – may be a small silver lining in a very dark cloud. The electroshocking surveys that begin in the park in May will be very revealing.
Closer to home, Jason Meador and Dr. Bill McLarney, with Mainspring Conservation Trust in Franklin, will be continuing a long-running biomonitoring program that has been collecting data in the upper Little Tennessee River watershed for 35 years. Dr. McLarney explained that with so much “before” data, any impacts from Helene will be measurable going forward; they will also be resuming their surveys in May.
Meador emphasized that aquatic species are very resilient to floods. “If they have access to functioning backwaters, wetlands, floodplains, etc., they can easily weather the storm and get back to normal,” he said.
At a Trout Unlimited Coldwater Summit I attended in February, one of the speakers reminded us that it is generally accepted among geologists that the Appalachian Mountains were once as tall as the Alps, and soil and rocks from here have been washing downstream and out to sea for millions of years. Species like our native brook trout have evolved here and weathered many storms like Helene.
There are many different theories on weather and climate and how humans are affecting both, and I do not have millions of years to find out how it all turns out. I floated the Little Tennessee last fall a couple of weeks after the storm and caught the usual number of smallmouth bass. I plan to be out sampling on my own with a rod and reel this spring and summer. My advice is: support your local fly shop, get your feet wet, and join me in seeing how the fish are doing after the storm.