A living nightmare: Helene survivors describe landslides as geologists expand database

By Kimberly King

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    BUNCOMBE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — Helene’s devastating rains caused more than 2,000 landslides across North Carolina. Fairview resident Rick Frizsell lived through multiple slides during the Sept. 27 storm that trapped him, his wife Dena, and their adult son Tanner in their home in Echo Valley Estates.

“All of a sudden, the house started vibrating,” Frizsell said. “You could feel it like an earthquake or tremor, and my wife said, ‘What is that?'”

“It was a feeling that the mountain was coming down, and you’re just vulnerable,” Dena Frizsell, Rick’s wife, said.

One of the landslides in Echo Valley started more than a mile above the neighborhood in an area called Bear Trail. The slide ended at the bottom of the neighborhood, and Frizsell said it took weeks to clear.

There’s still work to do in Frizsell’s neighborhood as it continues to recover. Road pavement was torn away on steep ridges that snake up the rural subdivision. Frizsell said there was a huge debris field at the bottom, with mud, rocks, and trees. One slide came down Buck Ridge, he said.

Frizsell still reflects on what he saw while trapped in his home that day.

“We were watching 70- to 80-foot poplar trees coming down the mountain, standing straight up, riding a wall of mud and water. We were watching boulders come down through here,” he said.

“This is a specific type of landslide. This is called a debris flow,” said Philip Prince, a geologist who came with News 13 to see the Fairview slide. “As this this thing came down, I mean it like carved away feet of soil and carried that away with it.”

The area is part of the Swannanoa Mountains. Prince is studying Helene slides and said many moved at more than 20 mph, depending on the ridge’s slope. He explained that during Helene, moisture moved up ridges and condensed into record rains that led to slides.

“A lot of our interest is not only where they happen, but where they go. So, we can tell people where not to be when an event like this could happen,” Prince said.

Prince described the consistency of a landslide as fast-moving pancake batter. He explained the amount of rain that can lead to a slide and emphasized the importance of educating those living in steep slope areas around the mountains.

“That 5 inches in 24 hours,” said Prince. “We know when that’s going to happen, and when we know that’s coming, people need to be aware of it.”

Prince and his boss, geologist Jennifer Bauer, are contracted with the state to continue building the landslide mapping database. Anyone can visit the site and add map layers to see slide histories, down to a given neighborhood. Bauer co-founded Appalachian Landslide Consultants, the company contracted to work on the state slide database.

The Frizsell family has recovered since the slides but still faces tens of thousands of dollars in repair work to secure their home’s foundation and the areas around their home. In their front yard is a tree with bark gone in the shape of a heart. While the mountains are loved, those who live in hollers are forced to come to grips with the reality of dangers after Helene.

“I don’t feel as safe as I did before,” said Frizsell. “Be aware of your surroundings, where you build and where you put things. Just look out for each other.”

Frizsell said Brock Mountain Land Group has donated more than $500,000 in road repair work at no cost to the community. The neighborhood continues to collect donations to rebuild and has a website Bear Trail Project.

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