hurricane helene

Normally I associate hurricanes with coastal area damage. Helene made landfall with 150 mph winds and certainly devastated that area,  but has been very destructive much further inland. Ashville, NC is 400 miles from the landfall and the storm has dumped 30 inches of rain there as well as some distance north of there, washing out roads and making travel impossible. I know the storms don't end at the coastal areas but 400+ miles inland and people are stranded, no communications, etc. boggles my mind. Maybe I've never paid attention in the past but I can't recall anything like this, at least not in the USA. 
I'm pretty well insulated from events where I live, hurricanes aren't a thing in the Northwest.  Wildfires are an issue, but an 80,000 acre fire doesn't cover the whole area. Windstorms with sustained 40, gusting to 75 happen here but they don't leave us devastated. I'm aways from subduction zones so earthquakes might happen but not very likely. Every decade or so we get major snowfall but roads are usually cleared in a day or so. I only keep 2 buckets of freeze dried chow on hand but I think a 40 day supply is more than adequate.

Two buckets of freeze dried chow might get you through a hurricane, but it may not get you through a dock workers strike. I have the feeling that's going to be devastating to the whole country, and especially where the storm hit.