Debris flow track above Craigtown in Fairview, North Carolina

Jennifer Bauer (Appalachian Landslide Consultants) descends a debris flow track above Craigtown in Fairview, North Carolina, the site of Helene's deadliest slope failure event. Eleven debris flow initiation points delivered large volumes of fluidized colluvial soil and tree debris to two channel outlets at the base of the Swannanoa Mountains. The Craigtown debris flow complex showed unusually high mobility, possibly due to contributions from the schistose bedrock and associated soils on the southeast flank of the Swannanoa Mountains. Debris flow behavior on the metagraywacke-dominated northwest flank of the Swannanoa Mountains was distinct, with lower flow volume and lower mobility."