GREENVILLE — In an attention-grabbing message, the National Weather Service cautioned in dire terms that Helene would be one of the area's "most significant weather events ... in the modern era."
It compared the forecast to devastating floods Asheville saw in 1916 after two back-to-back hurricanes swelled the French Broad River beyond its banks and left dozens dead.
For the Upstate, the service said the flooding could resemble that of the Saluda River Basin flooding of 1949, with the expected high point coming around 8 p.m. on Sept. 27. The actual crest came at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 28 and topped the prior record by nearly a foot.
That event — dubbed "The Big Flood of 1949" within days by The Greenville News — saw the Saluda River swell nearly 10 feet above flood stage.
The flooding started in the early morning hours of Oct. 7, 1949.
After more than 6 inches of rain fell in the span of a few hours, the Reedy River — which feeds into the Saluda River — swelled past its banks and flooded the Meadow Bottom community, Meadowbrook Baseball Park and Cleveland Park, among other places, according to a smattering of news reports across South Carolina.
"The muddy waters of the once clear Reedy rushed into many one-story frame houses in those areas, catching occupants unaware that the river had poured over its banks so rapidly," wrote Harry Coggins of The Greenville News.
He described a scramble to save residents of Meadow Bottom, a segregation-era Black neighborhood along the Reedy, with boats performing swift water rescues in the swampy, flood-prone section of town.
At least 65 families were displaced, and 43 bridges and culverts were washed out. A survey in the wake of the storm showed water levels reached 5-6 feet in some affected houses.
The Red Cross provided temporary shelter and warm meals to those displaced, while the city health department vaccinated at least 115 people in Meadow Bottom against typhoid fever.
The next week, the city health board condemned at least 50 homes in the section as unfit for human occupancy.
Meanwhile, flooding at Meadowbrook Baseball Park covered the diamond and part of what were then the stands. The event came a year after a fire destroyed the park.
Aside from flooding, the rainfall caused the roof to collapse at a local veterans training school, injuring two.
Greenville wasn't alone in facing a torrent of rain. More fell in Spartanburg, which also saw flooding from the nearly 7 inches of rain it received.
"A number of bridges and culverts washed away (in Spartanburg County), and dirt roads were left with gulleys in them," according to an Oct. 7, 1949, report from The Associated Press.
But flooding is more complex than rainfall alone, and the situation at Meadow Bottom had another major contributing factor.
When the S.C. Highway Department added curbs and gutters to a nearby street in 1940, it inadvertently channeled the water into the neighborhood, causing perennial flooding problems.
The residents sued the city over the problem in 1950, and while they had a jury side with them and were awarded damages, that verdict was tossed out on appeal.
Saluda River flood levels at Old Easley Road
The Saluda River water gauge above Old Easley Road, about 5 miles west of Greenville, hits flood stage at 9.5 feet. When it reached its high point in Helene's wake, it was at 20.23 feet.
Here are the flood stages at this gauge site:
Minor flooding: When there's little to no property damage, but the water level poses some public threat. That level is 9.5 feet at this gauge.
Moderate flooding: When some nearby buildings or roads become inundated with water from the river. That level is 13 feet at this gauge.
Major flooding: When there is extensive inundation of buildings and roads, and the point at which people in the vicinity need to be evacuated. That level is 15 feet at this gauge.
Before Sept. 28, 2024, there are seven recorded episodes of major flooding at this gauge:
- Oct. 7, 1949 — 19.38 feet
- Oct. 5, 1964 — 18.14 feet
- Feb. 7, 2020 — 16.13 feet
- Aug. 27, 1995 — 15.59 feet
- June 23, 1961 — 15.43 feet
- Sept. 9, 2004 — 15.07 feet
- Jan. 23, 1954 — 15.05 feet