Helene latest: 84 dead, over 1,000 people unaccounted for in western NC
The death toll continues to climb and more than 2 million people remained without power Sunday as recovery in the Southeast US begins from devastating Hurricane Helene.
President Joe Biden said Helene’s destruction has been "overwhelming" and pledged to send help. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal disaster agency is actively engaged across six states. The needs vary across the six states with active disaster declarations, Criswell said, and she confirmed that conditions in the Appalachian regions across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia presented particular concern.
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At least 84 people have died in the storm, which hit the Big Bend region of Florida Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane and ravaged parts of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee. In Buncombe County, North Carolina, where hard-hit Asheville is located, more than 1,000 names have been added to a database of people who haven't been in contact with friends or family, the county manager said at a news briefing Sunday.
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In Atlanta, 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain fell over 48 hours, the most the city has seen over two days since record keeping began in 1878.
In Florida,11 of the confirmed deaths were nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation area on the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.
None of the victims were from Taylor County, which is where the storm made landfall. It came ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 20 miles northwest of where Hurricane Idalia hit last year at nearly the same ferocity.
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At least 73 people are unaccounted for in Unicoi County, east Tennessee, where on Friday crews sent helicopters to rescue dozens of people trapped on the rooftop of a flooded hospital.
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Western North Carolina was cut off because of landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. All those closures delayed the start of the East Tennessee State University football game against The Citadel because the Buccaneers' drive to Charleston, South Carolina, took 16 hours.
Moody’s Analytics estimated $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage. According to AccuWeather, total damage and economic loss from Helene in the U.S. could range from $95 billion to $110 billion.
Asheville, North Carolina hit hard
Helene unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina, leaving Asheville, the state’s largest mountain city, under water and isolated with no power and impassable roads.
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Sheriff Quintin Miller said Sunday there were at least 30 deaths in Buncombe County, which includes Asheville. Downed cell towers have hindered efforts to contact next of kin. Relatives put out desperate pleas for help on Facebook. More than 1,000 names have been added to a database of people who haven't been in contact with friends or family, the Buncombe County manager said at a news briefing Sunday morning.
Asheville, a hub of tourism and arts with about 94,000 residents, was unusually still after floodwaters swamped neighborhoods known for drawing visitors including Biltmore Village and the River Arts District, which is home to numerous galleries, shops and breweries.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the state is working as hard as it can to get food and water to hundreds of thousands of people trapped and isolated in the mountains as rescue efforts continue. Well over 50 search teams have deployed across the region to help rescue people in danger. The efforts saved 41 people in one mission north of Asheville as well as rescuing an infant. The teams were finding people through both 911 calls and messages on social media, North Carolina Adjutant General Todd Hunt said.
"These swift water rescues are going on now, as we speak," Cooper said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.
Nearly 300 roads remained closed, including Interstate 40 both west and east of Asheville, Cooper said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.
At least 50 out-of-state search-and-rescue teams joined 500 National Guard troops from the state in conducting rescues and air dropping food and water to areas that can't be reached by road, officials said.
"We’re seeing progress, but we know the need is great," Cooper said.
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In Asheville, there was no cellular service and no timeline for restoration. Residents were also directed to boil their water.