Hurricane Helene death toll could rise further as 200 confirmed dead
Electricity is being slowly restored as the number of homes and businesses without power dipped below one million.
Hurricane Helene’s death toll has reached 200 and could rise higher as emergency services made their way to the hardest-to-reach places in the mountains of western North Carolina.
The storm washed out roads and knocked out electricity, water and mobile phone service in many parts of the region.
Officials in Georgia and North Carolina have added to their states’ death tolls, with Helene the deadliest storm to hit the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
A week after the storm came ashore in Florida before carving a path of destruction through the south east, connections between friends, neighbours and even strangers have provided hope in the worst-affected areas.
While government cargo planes brought food and water to these areas and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm leaned on one another for support.
Sarah Vekasi, who makes and sells pottery out of her Sarah Sunshine Pottery store in Black Mountain, North Carolina, said she is struggling with the trauma of Hurricane Helene and uncertainty about the future of her business.
“All I can say is that I’m alive. I’m not doing great. I’m not doing good. But I’m extremely grateful to be alive, especially when so many are not,” Ms Vekasi said.
One thing that makes her feel a little better is the fellowship of the daily town meeting at the square.
“It’s incredible being able to meet in person,” said Ms Vekasi, who was cut off by impassable roads for days.
More than 150 people gathered as local leaders stood on a picnic table shouting updates.
Martha Sullivan took careful notes so she could share the information — roads reopened, progress in getting power restored, work on trying to get water flowing again — with others.
Ms Sullivan, who has lived in Black Mountain for 43 years, said her children invited her to come to Charlotte after the storm, but she wants to stay in her community and look after her neighbours.
“I’m going to stay as long as I feel like I’m being useful,” Ms Sullivan said.
In remote mountain areas, helicopters hoisted the stranded to safety while search crews moved toppled trees so they could for survivors. In some places, homes teetered on hillsides and washed-out riverbanks.
Electricity is being slowly restored, as the number of homes and businesses without power dipped below one million for the first time since last weekend, according to poweroutage.us.
Most of the outages are in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene struck after barrelling over Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane.
Deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.
President Joe Biden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina on Wednesday, getting a first-hand look at the destruction caused by the storm.
Speaking afterwards in Raleigh, North Carolina, he praised the Democratic governor of North Carolina and the Republican governor of South Carolina for their responses to the storm, saying that in the wake of disasters, “we put politics aside”.
“Our job is to help as many people as we can as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can,” he said.
That includes a commitment from the federal government to foot the bill for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months.
The money will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and will cover costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters, and mass feeding.
“We’re not leaving until you’re back on your feet completely,” Mr Biden said.
Vice President Kamala Harris travelled to neighbouring Georgia, where she said the President had approved a request to pick up the tab for similar emergency aid there for three months.
Mr Biden is traveling to disaster areas in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.
