Lake Peachtree flooded part of golf cart path on Friday, Sept. 27 afternoon after Hurricane Helene

Deaths, damages, devastation: Hurricane Helene

Number of Southern states hit by Helene; Peachtree City on the path of storm

Yasemin Kalpakci, Nyla Kërr, Grace Lovejoy, Jayden Wadlington, Camilla O’Connell, Ellie Shelton, Betty Jane Plitt, Allie Hartman, Jozlynn Smith, and Holly Rife

Oct 3, 2024

News

On Thurs., Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and passed through Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. Fayette County Schools and surrounding areas were closed ahead of potential weather concerns.

Peachtree City, Georgia

Flooding on the golf cart bridge to Spyglass Island due to Hurricane Helene. (Camilia O’Connell)

Hurricane Helene affected Peachtree City by causing floods and power outages. According to CNN, There have been a confirmed 25 deaths as well as hundreds of roads still left closed and inaccessible. Cities like Valdosta and Augusta were some of the cities most heavily affected by the Hurricane.

Throughout Georgia, there were also many power outages that occurred as a result of Helene.

Georgia

Helene has caused a significant amount of flooding with there being 12-15 inches of rain in Augusta.

An article by GBP also mentioned that “Augusta was in [its] second day of having no city water,” after the hurricane.

Valdosta received extensive amounts of rainfall from Helene. The hurricane also devastated buildings and caused power outages.

“Several buildings in the city’s downtown had collapsed and some people were still trapped in damaged homes,” according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

View of all Georgia counties that have experienced power outages after Helene posted by Georgia Power on Oct. 3.

Throughout Georgia, there were also many power outages that occurred as a result of Helene. According to fox5atlanta, “over 500,000 customers across Georgia remain without power.”

North Carolina

As of Sept. 30, North Carolina had more than 90 missing individuals and 53 deaths after the devastation from Hurricane Helene. Areas such as Buncombe County, which holds the city of Asheville and the small town of Chimney Rock, faced significant damages.

“Devastating floods left widespread destruction in western North Carolina, and at least 600 people remain unaccounted for in Buncombe County alone. Search and rescue teams are still out looking for people in the county’s remote mountain towns,” according to NPR.

The death toll in Buncombe County rose to more than 30 individuals, with more than 600 residents unaccounted for after the destruction of main roads like I-40, the shutdown of Asheville Airport, and the lack of cell service.

Helene Statistics

Death toll is more than 200 in the south as of today.

Asheville, NC
- 30+ confirmed dead in Buncombe County
- Water sources and roads (I-40) are destroyed
- More than 60% of Buncombe Country residents are left without cell service
- Biltmore Estate due to significant flooding
- No flights in or out of Ashville Airport
- At least 90 missing in North Carolina as of Sept. 30

Chimney Rock, NC
- Lake Lure Dam suffered erosion and water spills during the heavy rain causing flash flood
- City wiped out

Tampa, FL
- Sewage Systems destroyed (8.9 million gallons of sewage)
- Manatees stranded on land
- As of Sunday evening, barrier islands were still without power, and many roads remain impassible, county officials said
- House Fire

East Tennessee
- Roads and bridges wiped out
- Flash Floods

“North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said nearly 464,000 customers are without power due to catastrophic damage from Tropical Storm Helene during a press conference Sunday. This is down from a peak of more than a million, Cooper added,” according to The Citizen-Times.

The small tourist town of Chimney Rock, with less than 140 residents, faced destruction after the erosion of the Lake Lure Dam, which caused devastating flash floods.

“Chimney Rock initially appeared to have escaped Helene’s wrath — until floodwater overwhelmed a dam on Saturday, overrunning the area and destroying almost everything in sight, the News & Observer noted,” according to The New York Post.

Tennessee

Tennessee’s death toll rose to nine people, with 46 individuals still unaccounted for as the eastern section of the state suffered extreme flash floods. The roads and bridges of East Tennessee faced collapse and destruction after the floods.

The force of the flash flood in Tennessee was deemed extremely powerful, surpassing that of Niagara Falls. The force of the waters devastated Tennessee’s road works. Tennessee’s Gov. Bill Lee is currently awaiting Federal Aid.

“Preliminary engineering assessments have concluded that restoring damaged or destroyed roads and bridges will take many months and hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to The Tennessee Lookout.

Florida

The first city on Hurricane Helene’s path was Tampa, Florida. Helene reached Tampa as a Category four hurricane on Sept. 26. According to CNN, the death toll in Florida reached 15 individuals. The National Weather Service reported a record-breaking 15 feet surge in the region.

Tampa Bay had more than 8.5 million gallons of sewage mixed with the flood, creating bio-hazardous waters.

“Gardner said there was one big spill at the city’s east plant between 100,000 gallons and a million, though he said 83,000 gallons were recovered. Those gallons were partially treated, completing two of the three-phase treatment process. He said none of the wastewater plants were shut off during the storm,” according to The Tampa Bay Times.

According to AXIOS Tampa Bay, as of Sunday, the Barrier islands around Tampa are still recovering from the loss of power as many roads are still impassable.

The citizens of Florida were not the only ones suffering as marine biologists found Manatees stranded around Tampa’s southern bay. “On Saturday, the agency rescued a manatee that had become breached at the end of a runway at MacDill Air Force Base, CNN affiliate WFTV reports. The manatee had ventured to the base as water levels rose during the storm but could not get back to the bay once the water receded,” according to CNN.

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About the Contributors

Yasemin Kalpakci, Features Editor

Yasemin Kalpakci is a senior at McIntosh High School and currently serves as the Features Editor for the McIntosh Trail. She joined the Trail staff in early 2024 and was part of the staff that won the SNO Distinguished Site Award in both the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years. In addition to her journalism accomplishments, Kalpakci has also achieved success in other areas. She won a nation-wide best of SNO award for her story, “McIntosh honors Vinny, the service dog of teacher and veteran Christopher Judy.” Kalpakci also won an All-Georgia award for her Critical Review, “Opinion: ‘I was a bad girl’ but was she?” and a Superior in Health/Medical Reporting with, “SOS: ending the stigma around finding help.” In addition to her journalism accomplishments, Kalpakci has also achieved success in other areas. Her art has been published on the board of education in the 2023-2024 school year. Kalpakci has been involved in the Beta Club since elementary school and is an active volunteer at animal shelters and various school activities. She was instrumental in creating her old school’s World Food Club, promoting cultural exchange through food. Outside of school, Kalpakci enjoys listening to Lana Del Rey, reading AO3, binge-watching Gilmore Girls, and spending hours on Pinterest. Like many high school students, she’s uncertain about her future plans but hopes to figure it out soon.

Nyla Kërr, News Editor

News Editor, Kërr is spending her third year on the McIntosh Trail. Kërr has always been passionate about writing and has been honing her craft for the past seven years. In her first year on the Trail, she earned a Superior rating on two of her articles at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association. She was a member of the first Trail staff to win a School Newspapers Online (SNO) Distinguished Site award in the 2023-2024 school year. The Trail won its second SNO Distinguished Site award in the 2024-2025 school year. Kërr has also contributed to award-winning journalistic pieces such as the house editorial “The Possibility is Never Zero”, which won a Best of SNO and an All-Georgia at the 2025 Georgia Scholastic Press Association spring convention. Additionally, Kërr has been recognized for high honor roll and has received academic awards for outstanding achievement in biology, anatomy and English. She has also been awarded the President’s Award for Educational Excellence. When she is not buried deep in her classwork, Kërr enjoys spending time with her family, playing the guitar and doing calisthenics.

Grace Lovejoy, Editor-in-Chief

Grace Lovejoy is serving as the Editor-In-Chief for the 2025-2026 school year. This year Lovejoy is a senior and this is her fourth year on the Trail staff. Last year, Lovejoy and other editors traveled to Philadelphia for the National Scholastic Press Association’s Fall Convention. Lovejoy has won 3 Best of SNO pieces, including her first piece “Collision course: teens and golf cart accidents in Peachtree City” which was the first for the Trail. Lovejoy has been involved in theater for 3 years and has performed and worked backstage on numerous shows. This year she is serving as the Vice President of the Ambassadors club. Lovejoy is eager to meet the new staff and have another successful year on the Trail.

Jayden Wadlington, Staff

Jayden Wadlington is a senior at McIntosh and this is her first year on the Trail Staff. While on staff she hopes to presume multimedia. Wadlington is going into her fourth year in The Spirit of McIntosh marching band. She has participated in The Black Student Union, The Unity Club, Sources of Strength and Knitting and Crochet Club. Her favorite subject in school is Government because she enjoys learning about politics. Outside of school Wadlington enjoys reading, hanging out with friends, working and keeping herself informed on politics and what goes on around the world. After high school Wadlington wants to go to flight school to become a flight attendant.

Camilla O’Connell, Photo Editor

Camilla O’Connell is a senior at McIntosh. This is her first year on the Trail, though she is a four year editor of the Legend Yearbook and is their Photo Editor for the 2025 book. O’Connell spent a week of her summer as a National Youth Correspondent representing Georgia at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, in Washington DC, where she met many working journalists and learned how to write in Smart Brevity. O’Connell has won three All-Georgia awards for her storytelling and photography, one superior award in portrait photography and was the first place winner for the Georgia Scholastic Press Association’s 2023 on the spot photo contest. She has also won the Laws of Life essay contest twice. Her work has been published in local news sites. Fun fact she fought the Citizen and won because they used one of her photos without her permission or giving her credit. She has photographed every home football game in her high school career. Outside of journalism O’Connell is the President of the Knitting and Crochet club, is in Beta club, Key club, We the People, Chorus, Advanced Drama, the English National Honors Society and the National Honor Society. When she’s not doing something on campus she can be found at the pool as a head lifeguard, on the rink playing hockey, making content for Joestens as one of their Ambassadors or hanging out with friends. “Though I love photography, my favorite part of journaling is getting to interview and hear people’s stories and being a microphone to share them.”

Ellie Shelton, Stringer

Ellie Shelton is a Senior at McIntosh and this is her first year on the Trail Staff. She decided to join after discovering the site and seeing how students were free to express themselves there. Shelton is interested in writing about politics, feminism and philosophy. During her many years of taking Spanish classes in school, she has competed in and won poetry declamation contests at Clemson University, winning first place last year for her performance. Along with Spanish, her other passions are classic literature and computer science. She especially seeks out problem-solving because it gives her a sense of accomplishment and helps her stay determined. Shelton is spending her last year of school on the varsity Quiz Bowl team and working at the daycare Royal Learners. Outside of school and work, she spends her time reading and finding out new things. “There are so many things to find out about this world. Be curious. Seek out knowledge and you will find it.”

Betty Jane Plitt, Photo Editor

Betty Jane Plitt is currently a sophomore at McIntosh and is serving her second year on the Trail as photo editor. Plitt often spends her free time hanging out with her friends, doing homework, or getting matcha. She also enjoys crocheting and reading as hobbies. Plitt is also a music enthusiast, tuning in to Laufey, Faye Webster, and Clairo most often. Plitt also enjoys volunteering at places such as the Midwest Food Bank or Royal Animal Refuge. Although when she gets a chance away from her usual activities, Plitt is also part of colorguard in the McIntosh Marching Band. She currently spins both flag and rifle. Plitt took part in the New Voices Student Leaders Institute this past summer, where she learned all about the New Voices bill and started advocating to get it passed in Georgia. She and two other journalists from Georgia are working on contacting legislators to introduce the bill. As a member of the Trail, Plitt hopes to expand her knowledge on writing, on-site journaling and meeting deadlines.

Allie Hartman, Interactive Design Editor

Allie Hartman is a sophomore at McIntosh and this is her second year on the Trail Staff. Hartman enjoys reading and writing. In addition, she was on the McIntosh JV girls tennis team. Outside of school, Hartman likes to play tennis with her sister and hang out with her friends. As a part of the 2025-2026 Trail staff, Hartman hopes to focus on writing truthful and interesting stories.

Jozlynn Smith, Staff

Smith is a two year veteran on the McIntosh Trail. She is a sophomore and is also serving her first year on the McIntosh varsity cheer squad. She wants to focus on getting the truth out for others to read and relate to. Smith wants her stories to give people the enlightenment of their peers, and give people the spotlight they deserve. Smith believes that everyone is a story. In 2023, Smith joined an international writing competition and came in the top 10 of all the people in her state. She wrote an outstanding essay, giving an insight of the book she was assigned. Placing in the top 10 in her state, Smith received an award that is hung up where everyone can see at her grandparents house. Smith has recently received a Best of SNO for her story Deer Season. Smith is very passionate about writing and doing things she loves. She hopes to bring joy to her readers and write stories that inspire everyone.

Holly Rife, Staff

Holly Rife is senior at McIntosh and her first year on the Trail Staff. Rife enjoys playing sports and being with the people she loves. Rife is returning to Mcintosh as a senior, from transferring her sophomore year. Rife has attended multiple different schools, while also discovering her tact for public speaking, as she was the face of her grade at Landmark Christian school, with reciting poetry. As she was forced to give up her role as one of the cheerleading team captains at Trinity Christian School. Along with other interests, Rife has interned with different event planners, while deciding which path she wants to pursue. “ I am so thankful to be able to be a part of The Trail for my final year as a Mcintosh student,”

Rhyan Murphy, Staff

Rhyan Murphy is a sophomore, having just this year joined the McIntosh Trail as a rookie. Murphy is the daughter of a Marine veteran. She has a current, and everlasting hobby of drawing, learning to do so for nine years. She also takes interest in general design.