That’s the staggering amount of rain that fell on the Southeast last week from Hurricane Helene and another storm that preceded it, according to calculations by former NOAA chief scientist Ryan Maue.
It’s nearly impossible to wrap your head around the concept of 40 trillion gallons of water, so here are some helpful comparisons, per the AP. It would:
Another scientist ran the calculations and said 40 trillion gallons was, if anything, an undercount.
Here’s what the weather was like on the day you were born.