MORRISTOWN, Tenn. -- Lives lost. Livestock drowned. Farms washed away.

On Sept. 27, Hurricane Helene swept through the 33 counties of East Tennessee and brought devastation to the Appalachian Mountains. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties.

The onslaught of rains from this hurricane brought with it flash floods, mudslides and destruction. The storm left rural communities decimated.  

Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 hurricane, struck Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. By the time Helene hit the Volunteer state it was still considered to be a tropical storm.  

Many grain and cattle farmers dot the rolling landscape of East Tennessee. Several rivers also criss-cross this area of the state. Hurricane Helene brought devastation to farmers and others living along the Nolichucky River, French Board River and Pigeon River. Hundreds of farms were lost due to flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.

 Eddie Gilbert, 69, lives in Hamblen County along the Nolichucky River, an area locals call the Lowland Community. Gilbert farms 1,400 acres of corn, soybeans, hay and sweet corn. He also tends to a small brood cow herd along with some steers.  

“I had to move my cattle three or four times to higher ground just to keep my cows’ heads above water,” Gilbert said. “A big issue in my area was the sediment as we had a lot of stream bank erosion. Those around me lost from two to 10 feet of bank along the Nolichucky River. All the trees along the bank are gone. We’ve had flooding from hurricanes before but not to this extent.”

 Gilbert escaped extensive damage but others weren’t as fortunate. A neighbor just east of Gilbert in Erwin, Tenn., lost 20 acres of soil when the Nolichucky River swept away 25 feet of topsoil. Another neighbor owned three houses, one for himself and two each for his grandchildren. Water rose up to the ceilings of all three homes. They lost not only their homes but half their livestock.

 “For many, things on their farm may improve over a few years but for others it’ll take a generation for the land to bounce back,” Gilbert said.

 Extension specialists in the area the Nolichucky Dam in Greene County saw more than two times the water that crosses the Niagara Falls in a three-day stretch. Experts say the dam withstood a staggering 1.3 million gallons of water per second flowing over and through it on Sept. 27. The area saw 8.25 inches of rain in 2.5 days. Fortunately, the dam did not fail. 

 “Farmers along the river had gauges that measure the rise of the river,” Gilbert said. “The gauges only measure up to 15 feet, but the river rose to 40 feet.”

Gilbert said another neighbor stored a 12-row planter, tractor and 450 bales of hay in his barn. When the rains came the water flooded the barn and the bales of hay rose to the roof of the barn, causing the barn to float down river.

“It looked like Noah’s Ark floating downstream,” Gilbert said.

According to the Tennessee Farm Bureau, the damage to the agriculture sector of East Tennessee alone is set at $1 billion.

“Some will rebound from this, but others financially won’t be able to,” Gilbert said. “And, we’ve had a lot of help from others. We’ve had a multitude of people show up to help clean up. Organizations such as the Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief organization. We also received a lot of hay, seed and fencing material from farmers in Ohio and Indiana to help us with clean up and fix up.”

 Leaving the area is not an option for Gilbert as his family’s roots are embedded in eastern Tennessee. His father moved to the area in 1948 to get away from urban sprawl.

 “We raised tobacco and raised 135 milking cows for our dairy up until two years ago,” he said.

 The counties with the most significant damage were Washington, Darter, Unicoi, Johnson, Greene and Cocke, but other areas of East Tennessee were hit hard. Long-term closures will be in place across the region as many routes will require significant repairs and for others, total rebuild.

 Randy Hodge, owner of Wilson Livestock Market auction house in Newport, Tenn., supplies many farmers and ranchers with cattle. Many of those small herds were wiped out by the torrential rains, Hodge said.

 “The money that I personally lost from all this I couldn’t make up in a lifetime,” said Hodge, who tends to 750 acres. “It’s not going to make me sit down and quit. The good Lord is going to carry me through.”

 Hodge said he relocated most of his cattle, although a small herd was trapped on some replaced sediment for several days.

 “A lot of folks lost all their food, and some lost cattle. Some even lost their lives. It’s just horrible,” he said.