More than 60 deaths from Storm Helene, rescue and clean-up work is increasing

CEDAR KEY: The death toll from powerful Storm Helene has reached at least 63, authorities said Saturday, as emergency responders, hampered by washed-out bridges and debris-strewn roads, searched house by house for survivors in devastated parts of several southern and eastern United States States.

At least 24 people died in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, 10 in North Carolina and one in Virginia, according to updated reports from local authorities and media collected by AFP.

Helene hit Florida late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and tracked north, gradually weakening but leaving a trail of destruction.

Federal emergencies were declared in six states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee – with more than 800 Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) personnel deployed to support local authorities.

Repair crews were already at work Saturday and the National Weather Service said conditions would “continue to improve today following the catastrophic flooding of the past two days.”

However, it warned of possible “long-term power outages”.

As of Saturday evening, more than 2.7 million customers were still without power in 10 states from Florida in the Southeast to Indiana in the Midwest, according to the tracker poweroutage.us.

“It breaks my heart”

Helene originally hit Florida’s northern Gulf Coast with strong winds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour. Even as a weakened post-tropical cyclone, it caused devastating damage.

Record flooding threatened to breach several dams, but Tennessee emergency officials said Saturday that the Nolichucky Dam – which was on the verge of breaking – was no longer in danger of giving way and people downstream could return home.

Massive flooding was reported in Asheville in western North Carolina. Gov. Ray Cooper called it “one of the worst storms in modern history” to hit his state.

Some residents in South Carolina – a state no stranger to hurricanes – said Helene was the worst storm in 40 years.

There were reports of remote towns in the Carolina Mountains without power or cell service, their streets washed away or buried by mudslides.

The full destructive power of the hurricane was on display in Cedar Key, an island town of 700 people off Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Several pastel-colored wooden houses were destroyed, falling victim to record-breaking storm surges and fierce winds.

“I’ve lived here my whole life and it breaks my heart to see this. “We haven’t really managed to get a break,” said Gabe Doty, a Cedar Key official, citing two other hurricanes last year.

“gut punch”

In South Carolina, two firefighters were among the dead, officials said.

The 17 deaths in Georgia included an emergency responder, according to state officials.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the damage caused by Helene exceeded that of Hurricanes Idalia and Debby, both of which hit the same region southeast of Tallahassee in the past 13 months.

“It’s a real slap in the face to these communities,” DeSantis told Fox News.

And in the town of Erwin, Tennessee, there was a dramatic rescue operation in which more than 50 patients and staff trapped on the roof of a hospital by the tidal wave had to be rescued by helicopter.

Remnants of the weakened storm sent water pouring across the Lower Midwest on Saturday.

“Overwhelming” damage

In a statement Saturday, President Joe Biden called Helene’s devastation “overwhelming.”

Biden was briefed by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall about “the tragic loss of life across the region,” the White House said.

“The President directed them to remain focused on how the Biden-Harris Administration can accelerate support for affected survivors and accelerate recovery efforts, including immediately deploying additional search and rescue teams to North Carolina,” she added.

Criswell, who traveled to Florida on Saturday to survey the damage, will visit Georgia on Sunday and North Carolina on Monday to assess the federal response to the storm’s impact.

September was an unusually wet month around the world, and scientists are linking some extreme weather events to human-caused global warming.