For nearly two years, one name remained tied to an unfinished part of Hurricane Helene’s story in Washington County.
That changed this week.
Human remains found along the Nolichucky River have been identified as Nancy Tucker, the last person from Washington County who remained missing after Helene tore through Northeast Tennessee in September 2024, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
The discovery brings an answer after a disaster that changed communities across the eastern edge of Tennessee — and left families dealing with losses that lasted long after the floodwater went down.
Remains Found Near Jackson Island
The remains were discovered Saturday, Sept. 12, in the Jackson Island area of the Nolichucky River, according to reporting from WVLT and WSMV.
They were taken to the William Jenkins Forensics Center at East Tennessee State University for examination and identification.
Authorities later identified the remains as Tucker’s.
The sheriff’s office said its investigation remains active.
Other regional reporting says crews working on debris removal found the remains. Jackson Island had become part of the search area as recovery work continued along the river.
The location matters because Helene did not simply flood streets and buildings in East Tennessee. The storm sent huge amounts of water and debris through river communities, changing the landscape and making search and cleanup work difficult.
Two years later, that work was still producing answers.
Helene’s Damage in Tennessee Did Not End in 2024
For people who experienced Helene only through national television coverage, the storm may be remembered mainly as a Florida hurricane or a western North Carolina disaster.
For Northeast Tennessee, it was something much closer.
Rain was already falling in the region before Helene arrived. On Sept. 27, 2024, flooding linked to the storm brought heavy debris, damaged homes and knocked out important public services across Northeast Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
Washington County was among the counties included in the disaster response.
TEMA’s archived reports eventually listed 17 weather-related deaths in Tennessee, including four in Washington County. The agency also reported problems with drinking water systems, wastewater plants, roads and other infrastructure after the storm.
The recovery became a huge regional effort.
TEMA says a disaster relief center at Bristol Motor Speedway operated for 135 days. The center handled truckloads of donated water and thousands of volunteer hours while helping communities across the region.
Those numbers show why Helene cannot be treated as a one-week weather story.
A storm may leave the forecast map in a matter of days. The cleanup can stay for years.
The Nolichucky Became Part of Helene’s Tennessee Story
The Nolichucky River runs through some of the East Tennessee areas hit hardest by the flooding.
During a major flood, a river can carry much more than water. Trees, pieces of buildings, vehicles, mud and other debris can be moved far from where they started.
That helps explain why disaster searches can continue long after the first emergency response is over.
In Tucker’s case, the discovery near Jackson Island came almost two full years after Helene.
Regional reports identified Tucker as the final person still missing from Washington County because of the storm.
That does not erase what happened. It does, however, close one unanswered part of the county’s Helene record.
One Storm, a Massive Price Tag
Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, 2024. It then moved inland, producing destructive flooding across the southern Appalachian region.
NOAA estimates that Helene caused about $78.7 billion in damage in the United States.
That made it one of the costliest hurricanes in U.S. history.
But a dollar figure does not fully explain what a storm like Helene means to a place such as Northeast Tennessee.
Damage can be counted in washed-out roads, ruined homes and broken utility systems. Recovery can be counted in work crews, donated supplies and rebuilding projects.
Some losses are harder to put into a spreadsheet.
For families waiting for news about a missing loved one, the timeline of a disaster can stretch much longer than the rest of the country realizes.
Why This Discovery Matters Across Tennessee
Tennessee is not a coastal state, and that can make the destruction from a hurricane feel surprising.
Helene showed why that assumption can be dangerous.
By the time a tropical system reaches Tennessee, wind speed alone may no longer tell the whole story. Heavy rain falling across steep mountain terrain can quickly become a flood emergency miles away from the coast.
The National Hurricane Center was still warning of catastrophic flooding across parts of the southern Appalachians and Tennessee Valley on Sept. 27, 2024, after Helene had already moved inland.
For East Tennessee, that became the defining part of the storm.
Nearly two years later, crews were still working through debris left behind by that flooding.
And in Washington County, that work led to Nancy Tucker.
The sheriff’s office says the investigation is continuing. For the wider region, the discovery is another marker in a recovery that has taken far longer than the storm itself.
Helene passed through Tennessee in 2024.
Its effects are still being uncovered in 2026.
Sources
- WSMV/WVLT reporting, “Remains of Hurricane Helene victim found nearly 2 years later, sheriff’s office says,” Sept. 15, 2026.
- Washington County Sheriff’s Office information as reported by regional news outlets.
- Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Hurricane Helene response and archived flash reports.
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Hurricane Helene damage estimates.
- National Hurricane Center, final Hurricane Helene records and advisories.
