WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. — As parts of East Tennessee continue to recover one year after the remnants of Hurricane Helene struck the Appalachian region, researchers are expanding efforts on some farmland to determine the long-term agricultural impacts.
Washington County farmer Will Runion remembers watching the Nolichucky River rise along his three and a half miles of waterfront farmland. Today repairs and restoration continue.
“One farm, we had about 30 acres underwater, and the other one is about 220 acres,” Runion said “And so, we're fortunate to have a beautiful farm, but it's got a lot of river frontage.”
Runion was prepared for flooding, but had never seen anything of this magnitude. He moved his cattle to safety, but lost most of his hay fields. He also lost a new business venture, a campground that was just a few months out from opening.
“Where the campground was, it was not even in the flood plain,” he said. “I mean, it was that far elevated above the water.” Like many across the region, Runion was overwhelmed with the mess and efforts to restore his farm. He contacted the local agricultural extension service, who was already in talks with scientists and specialists at the University of Tennessee.
One of those scientists was Forbes Walker, a soil scientist with the UT extension. He says he found no guidance from past research because an event like Helene is so rare.
“As scientists, the first thing we do is we go, okay, well, what did they do in past disasters,” Walker asked.
He said they started with tracing contaminants in the area, such as diesel tanks and pesticides washed downstream. Now their research is focused on the new layer of topsoil left behind, which ranges from a few inches to several feet deep.
“Now we've got lots of sandy sediments, so we're running into some manganese deficiency, which may impact some of our higher value cash crops, things like vegetables,” Walker said.
Luckily it wasn’t all bad news. Walker said they were pleased to find a healthy pH level and some beneficial nutrients for crops. They were also surprised to discover organic matter, though it's different from what they normally find on farmland.
A year after Helene, they’re establishing test gardens on Runion’s property to determine how this new topsoil impacts plant growth.
For some, harvest after Helene was ‘some of the best we've ever had’
In neighboring Unicoi County, hay and livestock farmer John Hilemon II faced similar devastation. When floodwaters from Helene swept through the region, it dealt millions of dollars in damages to his farm. That day, he lost 650 acres of land, 1,000 bales of hay and several pieces of expensive equipment – all in an instant.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Hilemon said. “You’re kind of just stuck and didn’t really know what to do. It’s like watching a movie scene pull together.”
During the first few weeks, Hilemon focused on taking stock of the damage and caring for his family. He quickly realized, though, that the coming season was going to be impossibly difficult. When he saw that his topsoil had been washed away, he feared the worst.
“If I didn't keep a bit of money for myself, I'd work the next 40 years and still not be able to pay off what we're out,” Hilemon said at the time.
But now, one year later, he’s finding that things aren’t as dire as they first seemed. With the help of out-of-state volunteers and the local extension office, Hilemon was able to grow and harvest hay to sell this season.
“Our first cutting of hay was some of the best we've ever had,” Hilemon said. “It was in our top three years of production.”
He even sent some of it off to the state fair to be judged.
“There are some blessings in disguise,” Hilemon said.
Along the Nolichucky riverbank is where more research continues. Andrea Ludwig is a UT professor and extension specialist in stormwater management. “We're hoping to just learn what are those effective strategies to stabilize, to bring back that function in the landscape, and really, you know, bring back productivity into agricultural spaces,” Ludwig said.
Ludwig describes this generational flood as a “natural reset” for the river, but it also wiped an important vegetated area between the water and up-land, called the riparian zone. “It acts to help, kind of absorb that buffer, absorb that storm water pulse into that flood plain, in a natural area where water is supposed to kind of go and slow down,” Ludwig said.
Now, Ludwig is focused on stabilizing the riverbanks and how they’re naturally recovering.
Ludwig and Forbes both express concern over the fact that cleanup efforts from multiple agencies included the removal of downed trees and woody debris, which can be beneficial to the ecosystem. They hope future plans will take into account where that needs to be left behind. “So there's been kind of that natural destabilization, and then also some additional human impacts there,” Ludwig said.
Walker said all agencies will need to work together in the future. “We really want to develop a plan for when the next one happens, and it will happen, whether it's going to be in West Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, East Tennessee,” Walker said.
This past year, Runion was able to grow enough hay to feed his cattle. He hopes his fields will be able to grow enough hay for future sales. The campground is also nearing completion again, but this time even further from the water.
