• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Conferences, Meetings & Events
    • Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation - Proceedings
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Conferences, Meetings & Events
    • Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation - Proceedings
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Mines RepositoryCommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Login

    Mines Links

    Arthur Lakes LibraryColorado School of Mines

    Statistics

    Display Statistics

    Debris flows in the North Pacolet River valley, Polk County, North Carolina, USA: case studies and emergency response

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    05-01_Bauer.pdf
    Size:
    1.242Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Bauer, Jennifer B.
    Wooten, Richard M.
    Cattanach, Bart L.
    Fuemmeler, Stephen J.
    Date issued
    2019
    Keywords
    debris flow
    North Carolina
    Blue Ridge escarpment
    landslide
    natural hazards identification
    management policy
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/11124/173172; http://dx.doi.org/10.25676/11124/173172
    Abstract
    The North Pacolet River valley is incised into the Blue Ridge Escarpment (BRE) near Tryon in southwestern North Carolina. The BRE is a mountain front that marks the change from the mountainous Blue Ridge physiographic province to the lower, rolling topography of the foothills zone of the Piedmont provinces. This escarpment is often comprised of steep slopes with exposed bedrock cliffs and shallow colluvial soils. The down slope sides of the escarpment have evidence of past slope movements in the form of large scale deposits, debris fans, talus slopes, and dormant debris slides. Debris flows have been documented along the BRE in multiple past storm events including those in 1916, 1940, 1996, and 2004. On May 18, 2018, debris flows again initiated near the top of the BRE slopes and travelled down to the North Pacolet River valley floor during heavy rains on soils with high antecedent moisture contents. At least 27 debris flows were initiated, travelling up to ~966 meters (~3,170 feet) down drainages below. At least 6 homes were damaged or destroyed and one fatality occurred due to these debris flows. Main highways, interstates, and multiple private roads were covered by the debris. Appalachian Landslide Consultants, PLLC (ALC) and the North Carolina Geological Survey (NCGS) responded to this emergency situation in order to provide Polk County Emergency Management information about the stability of the slopes before the arrival of Tropical Depression Alberto just 9 days after the May 18 rains. During this reconnaissance, ALC and the NCGS identified areas of potential instability in the coming rains. County Emergency Management used this information when deciding to issue a voluntary evacuation recommendation to the people of the North Pacolet River valley. This paper discusses the findings of the reconnaissance mapping, as well as a general overview of the integration of geological information into emergency response and preparation.
    Rights
    Copyright of the original work is retained by the authors.
    Collections
    Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation - Proceedings

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2022)  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.