Nearly six months after Helene ripped through western North Carolina with catastrophic winds and torrential rains, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service has issued a final report on the storm.

On March 19, just eight days before the sixth-month anniversary of when Helene hit western North Carolina, the National Hurricane Center’s report was released, detailing the strength of the winds and the rainfall totals. The report also breaks down the number of storm-related deaths in each state, with North Carolina the deadliest with 105.

Helene grew to a tropical storm on Sept. 25 and the next day became Hurricane Helene, making landfall 10 miles southwest of Perry, Florida, in the early morning hours of Sept. 27 as a Category 4 hurricane. It then made its way up through the Southeast, wreaking havoc on the Appalachian Mountains, making it a storm no one will ever forget.

The official report says Helene brought life-threatening wind gusts much farther inland across the Southeast than other hurricanesbecause of its fast forward motion and large size.

The highest wind gust recorded was actually in Yancey County, North Carolina, at Grandfather Mountain. Its highest gust was 92 knots, just over 105 mph. At Banner Elk in Watauga County, the second-highest gust in the state was reported to be 88 knots (101 mph), and the next-highest was in Haywood County at Frying Pan Mountain, that had a gust of 76 knots (87 mph).

As for rain, North Carolina had some of the highest totals since a storm hit the area with heavy rain just before Helene. The highest total from Helene was in Busick, where 30.78 inches of rain was recorded from Sept. 25-28.

A National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program spotter near Celo, measured 26.65 inches of rain. Both are in Yancey County.

Farther south, a rainfall total of 29.98 inches was measured in Transylvania County. The highest total in Buncombe County as in Black Mountain, which had 21.07 inches.

Some of the rivers that caused catastrophic flooding were the South Toe River near Celo (which broke the 1957 crest record by 8.7 feet), the French Broad River at Blantyre (which broke the 1901 crest record by 1.3 feet) and the Swannanoa River at Biltmore (which broke the 1901 crest record by 6.6 feet).

Reports from official state government sources as well as media reports indicate Helene is responsible for at least 175 direct deaths, with 85 in North Carolina, the highest of any other state.

North Carolina also had 20 reported indirect deaths, giving it 105 deaths. South Carolina had the second-most with 50.