NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Forecasters had warned that Hurricane Helene would become a "once-in-a-generation" storm for portions of the U.S. Appalachians, and the forecast proved tragically accurate across mountainous portions of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia, reported USA Today on Tuesday.

"Now dozens of people are dead. Hundreds are missing. Homes and lives have been ruined. Roads destroyed. Tens of billions of dollars in damages," the report noted.

Copious amounts of rain that fell before and during Helene across the region's unique terrain produced "the most severe flooding ever observed" in western North Carolina, Corey Davis, North Carolina assistant state climatologist, was quoted as saying in a blog post.

The catastrophic flood disaster was caused by an unfortunate combination of weather, hydrology and geography, experts told the newspaper.

Almost unimaginable amounts of rains fell along a swath of the United States more than 200 miles long, rushing from tall peaks and turning tumbling mountain streams into unrecognizable torrents, according to the report. Rushing waters flooded valleys, completely surrounding a hospital in East Tennessee and cutting off entire communities in Western North Carolina. Enditem

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