Climate Impact Report – 10/1

October 1, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 10/1

Hurricane Helene already ranks third among the deadliest hurricanes to strike the mainland United States in the past 50 years. As of Tuesday morning, at least 130 people have died across six states due to Hurricane Helene.
- In North Carolina, 56 people were killed. In South Carolina, 30 people were killed. In Georgia, 25 people were killed. In Florida, 11 people were killed. In Tennessee, 6 people were killed. In Virginia, 2 were killed.
More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene.
Following Hurricane Helene, hundreds of roads remain closed, especially in the Carolinas, making it difficult to deliver supplies.
- Some areas are so inaccessible supplies are being delivered by mules and by air and people are hiking hours to try to help.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 1.6 million customers remain without power across South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida.
As of Monday afternoon, approximately 600 people were still unaccounted for in Asheville, North Carolina, following Hurricane Helene.
As of Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center is continuing to track Tropical Storm Kirk, in addition to two other tropical disturbances in the Atlantic Ocean.
- As of Tuesday morning, Kirk was located about 935 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.

As of Tuesday, 29 large active wildfires have burned 1,612,223 acres across AZ, CA, CO, ID, OR, SD, UT, WA, and WY. This year, to date, 38,853 wildfires have burned 7,939,18 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 3 fires have burned 17,293 acres as of Tuesday.
In California, 3 fires have burned 121,586 acres as of Tuesday.
- California wildfires have burned more than 1 million acres this year, according to Cal Fire data. Since 1987 there have been just seven other years when California wildfires consumed over a million acres.
In Oregon, 9 fires have burned 264,461 acres as of Tuesday.
In Washington, 1 fire has burned 1,738 acres as of Tuesday.

The Southwest continues to see scorching temperatures in the fall.
Last Saturday, Phoenix, Arizona, hit an astonishing 117 degrees.
In Las Vegas, Nevada, it hit 104 both Saturday and Sunday — the highest temperatures so late in the season.
Temperatures are forecast to remain 15 to 25 degrees above normal for days to come, sending highs to at least 100 to 110 degrees in the Desert Southwest.
- In California, some cities near the coast are under heat advisories and will probably witness their hottest day of the year this week.