Hurricane Helene leaves almost 100 dead; Parts of North Carolina are in ruins

A crisis erupted in western North Carolina as officials vowed Monday to bring more water, food and other supplies to flood-hit areas without power and cell service, just days after Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern United States. The death toll from the storm is approaching 100.

At least 91 people were killed in several states. A North Carolina county that includes the mountain town of Asheville reported 30 people killed.

Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the death toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency responders reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.

Supplies were airlifted to the Asheville area. Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder promised she would provide food and water to the city through Monday, four days after Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane.

“We hear you. We need food and we need water,” Pinder said in a Sunday call with reporters.

“My staff has made every possible request for assistance to the state and we have worked with every single organization that has come forward. I promise you we are very close.”

Officials warned that rebuilding would be long and difficult after widespread loss of homes and property. The storm upended life across the Southeast. Deaths have also been reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.

“I want to remind all North Carolinians that even as flooding continues, local conditions remain extremely dangerous and will continue to recede,” North Carolina Emergency Management Director William Ray-North said Sunday.

Roads are damaged, power lines are down and the ground is unstable. Rivers in the mountains are swelling due to rain and it could take time for the floodwaters to drain away, he said.

“We have asked people not to go to areas affected by the storm, whether to check on property, loved ones or just sightseeing,” Ray-North said.

“You not only endanger yourself, but also disrupt emergency services or repair teams.”

Cooper urged residents in western North Carolina to avoid travel, both for their own safety and to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search parties spread across the entire region in search of stranded people.

41 people were saved in a rescue operation north of Asheville. Another mission focused on rescuing a single infant. Teams found people through both 911 calls and social media messages, said Todd Hunt, adjutant general for the North Carolina National Guard.

Biden visits the area

US President Joe Biden on Sunday evening described the impact of the storm as “breathtaking” and said he would visit the area this week as long as it did not affect rescue and recovery efforts. In a brief exchange with reporters, he said the administration was giving states “everything we have” to help with their response to the storm.

Biden also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina on Saturday and made federal funding available for affected individuals.

Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday in the Big Bend region of Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 miles (225 km). A weakened Helen moved quickly through Georgia and then inundated the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded streams and rivers and overwhelmed dams.

There have been hundreds of water rescues, including in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from the roof of a hospital on Friday.

Power outages continue to occur

More than two million homeowners and other utility customers were still without power Sunday night. South Carolina had the most outages and Gov. Henry McMaster asked for patience as crews struggled with widespread broken power poles.

“We want people to stay calm. Help is on the way. It’s just going to take some time,” McMaster told reporters outside the Aiken County airport.

The storm triggered the worst flooding in North Carolina in a century. One community, Spruce Pine, was showered with over 24 inches (61 centimeters) of rain Tuesday through Saturday.

Begging for help before three drown

Jessica Drye Turner of Texas had pleaded for someone to rescue her family members who were stranded on their roof in Asheville amid rising floodwaters.

“They are watching 18-wheelers and cars go by,” Turner wrote in an urgent Facebook post Friday.

But in a follow-up message Saturday, Turner said help did not arrive in time to save her parents, both in their 70s, and her six-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and the three drowned.

“I cannot express in words the sadness, heartache and devastation my sisters and I are going through,” she wrote.

The state sent water supplies and other goods to Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides that blocked Interstate 40 and other highways prevented the supplies from getting there. The county’s own water supplies were located across the Swannanoa River, away from where most of Buncombe County’s 270,000 people live, officials said.

Law enforcement planned to send officers to locations where there was still water, food or gas because there were reports of arguments and threats of violence, the county sheriff said.

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was touring south Georgia on Sunday and planned to be in North Carolina on Monday.

“It is still an active search and rescue mission” in western North Carolina, Criswell said. “And we know that there are many communities that are cut off just because of the geography of the mountains, where damage to roads and bridges has cut off certain areas.”

Storm-battered Florida is digging out

In Florida’s Big Bend, some lost almost everything they owned. With shrines still dark Sunday morning, some churches canceled their regular services, while others, like Faith Baptist Church in Perry, opted to hold their services outdoors.

Standing water and tree debris still cover the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. In a message posted on the church’s Facebook page, the church called on parishioners to “pray for our community.”

“We have electricity. We have no electricity,” said Marie Ruttinger, a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. “Our God has power. That’s for sure.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday it “looked like a bomb exploded” after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air.

In eastern Georgia, near the South Carolina border, officials told Augusta residents Sunday morning that water service in the city and surrounding Richmond County would be interrupted for 24 to 48 hours.

A news release said trash and debris from the storm had “blocked our ability to pump water.” Officials handed out water bottles.

With at least 25 deaths in South Carolina, Helene was the deadliest tropical cyclone for the state since Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people. Moody’s Analytics expects property damage to range from $15 billion to $26 billion.