ASHEVILLE, N.C. – When Hurricane Helene unleashed 15 inches of rain over two days in October 2024, the flood waters did not just recede quietly in North Carolina in the storm’s aftermath. Beyond the flood waters, the storm triggered landslides that crashed down on communities without warning. The region experienced generational levels of devastation.
Hurricane Helene caused more than 4,200 landslides throughout North Carolina, with about a thousand in Buncombe County. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deployed a Landslide Task Force in support of Federal Emergency Management Agency as the region spent months grappling with recovery.
Unlike typical flooding damage, in which waters recede and are unlikely to rise again unless another storm hits, landslides pose different questions: is the land stable now, or will another slide collapse again?
In late February, the task force visited 10 sites around Asheville, Black Mountain, and Bat Cave to assess the safety of landslide areas. Their assessments were part of a FEMA-requested pilot program to conduct rapid reviews of critical sites.
“Normally, as a geologist, you have time to look at each site thoroughly, bring in a drilling crew, drill cores, take samples, dig trenches, build a whole model of the slide,” said Andrew Aceves, who supported his first rapid landslide mission on behalf of the Pittsburgh District. “This was different for me. We had two hours per site for a quick visual assessment. If I were a doctor, this would be triage.”
Aceves joined Dan Vellone, a geotechnical engineer from the Sacramento District, with extensive experience in these types of rapid assessments. Vellone is a member of the Landslide Advisory Team led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the headquarters level. The group includes about 20 geologists and geotechnical engineers from across the country with landslide expertise.
Vellone had previously supported other emergency landslide incidents before Hurricane Helene, including those caused by denuded landscapes following wildfires, as well as an international mission assignment in support of the Government of Micronesia in the west Pacific Ocean.
For Aceves, this was the first time tackling such a mission. After Helene’s deluge saturated slopes and triggered slides in unexpected places, FEMA urgently needed answers to assist local communities.
“Helping people feels good,” Aceves said of his experience. “This was also an opportunity to learn new things that can enhance one’s career.”
The task force provided on-site assessments and reviewed landowner reconstruction plans, all under tight deadlines. They evaluated the soil types, slope degrees, drainage characteristics, and surface depressions that could catch water. The task force reviewed maps and aerial drone footage, all to determine if locations might be at risk for collapsing again.
The duo started their field work before sunrise. They partnered with FEMA representatives, fire marshals, and local officials at restricted sites, often joined by landowners who could share critical background on each incident.
“They would tell us what happened, what they saw, whether there had been landslides before, things we couldn’t see,” Aceves said.
The team worked 12-hour days, with four hours each evening drafting reports of their findings. Aceves supported the mission for a week, while Vellone remained on mission for two more weeks, visiting additional landslide sites and preparing site inspection reports for FEMA.
The reports helped provide an initial site characterization – with disclaimers – to help communities decide whether they could begin rebuilding. The work demanded high skill and rapid professional judgment, a shift from the more intense investigations Aceves typically conducts as an engineering geologist.
“It was very hard,” he admitted, saying this mission was so different from the meticulous core-sampling work he normally does.
In the Pittsburgh District, Aceves is used to conducting assessments based on evidence dug deep beneath the ground. He is accustomed to deliberate and meticulously scoped work. This time, his assessments were based on above-ground observations. But the job was too important to pass on, he said.
“My motivation was to help people,” Aceves said. “It was really rewarding.”
Several times, when out to lunch in North Carolina and wearing their red Army Corps emergency response t-shirts, people would come up to the team and thank them for the work they were doing.
Those encounters helped Aceves reflect on his service as an Army civilian. He compares it to his years in uniform with the U.S. Navy, where he served as an aviation electronic technician in the late 1980s and early ‘90s.
He remembers one mission where he flew in a helicopter to provide disaster relief to Thailand after a tsunami. His crew spent a week flying supplies from an offshore carrier.
“I feel like I’m serving my country as much now as I did then,” he said. “You can serve people in disasters whether you’re in the military or a civilian.”
Although he worked on helicopters in the Navy, his military service funded his geology degree that he uses today. Becoming a geologist was a childhood dream, which became a reality thanks to the GI Bill. He sees himself as part of a team with value and purpose now as much as he ever did. Aceves credits a supportive chain of command for allowing him to support the Helene mission.
“It speaks to the government’s commitment to serve others,” he said. “We are just trying to do good, so we can devote our mission to people during a time of greatest need.”