Supplies, emergency workers rushed to North Carolina while Florida digs out from Helene’s damage
The U.S. Southeast grappled Sunday with rising death tolls, a lack of vital supplies in isolated, flood-stricken areas and the widespread loss of homes and property while the devastating toll of Hurricane Helene became clear to officials who warned of a lengthy and difficult rebuild.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Sunday that the toll of 11 dead in his state was expected to rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.
Cooper, speaking at a news conference, said “we know there will be more” deaths. He implored residents to avoid traveling on roads in western North Carolina not only to avoid dangers but to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams have spread throughout the region in search of stranded people.
“Many people are cut off because the roads are impassable,” he said. Supplies were being airlifted to the region around Asheville, a city in the western North Carolina mountains known for its arts, culture and natural beauty.
One rescue effort involved saving 41 people north of Asheville, while another mission focused on saving a single infant. The teams were finding people through both 911 calls and social media messages, North Carolina Adjutant General Todd Hunt said.
The storm upended life throughout the Southeast. Authorities were rushing to airlift supplies and restore communications and roads in flooded Asheville on Sunday as residents along the storm-battered Florida coast gathered for church services.
Hurricane Helene roared ashore with 140-mph winds in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday. From there, it quickly moved through Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that it “looks like a bomb went off” after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air. A weakened Helene then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains, flooding creeks and rivers and straining dams.
Hurricane Helene has strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it races toward northwest Florida and causes flooding on the Gulf Coast and power outages inland.
More than 60 people have been killed in total, and several million people were still without power Sunday afternoon.
In Texas, Jessica Drye Turner had begged for someone to rescue her family members stranded on their rooftop in Asheville amid rising floodwaters. “They are watching 18-wheelers and cars floating by,” Turner wrote in an urgent Facebook post on Friday.
But in a follow-up message widely circulated on social media Saturday, Turner said help had not arrived in time to save her parents, both in their 70s, and her 6-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and the three drowned.
“I cannot convey in words the sorrow, heartbreak and devastation my sisters and I are going through,” she wrote.
Western North Carolina was isolated by landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. There have been hundreds of water rescues, none more dramatic than in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop Friday.
The storm hovered over the Tennessee Valley into Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.
It unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina. One community, Spruce Pine, was doused with more than 2 feet of rain from Tuesday through Saturday.
The state is sending water supplies and other items toward Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides blocking Interstate 40 and other highways are preventing supplies from making it. The county’s own supplies of water were on the other side of the Swannanoa River, away from where most of the 270,000 people in Buncombe County live, officials said.
Forecasters are warning that huge Hurricane Helene will intensify in the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in Florida.
Law enforcement was making plans to send officers to places that still had water, food or gas because of reports of arguments and threats of violence, the sheriff said.
“If you will bear with us and be patient one more day — I hate to say that but I know how desperate water is in our community — but we are pushing as hard as we can to get them up the mountain,” Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal disaster agency is actively engaged across six states in meeting the requests of governors and state-level responders. She noted the Appalachian regions across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia presented particular concerns. She toured south Georgia on Sunday and planned to be in North Carolina on Monday.
“It’s still very much an active search and rescue mission” in western North Carolina, Criswell said. “And we know that there’s many communities that are cut off just because of the geography” of the mountains, where roads and bridges have cut off certain communities and ... made it difficult for residents to make emergency calls or contact anyone.”
In Florida’s Big Bend, some lost nearly everything they own. With sanctuaries still darkened in a county where as of Sunday morning, 97% of customers were without power, some churches canceled regular services while others such as Faith Baptist Church in Perry opted to worship outside.
Standing water and tree debris still cover the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. The church called on parishioners to come “pray for our community” in a message posted to the congregation’s Facebook page.
“We have power. We don’t have electricity,” Immaculate Conception Catholic Church parishioner Marie Ruttinger said. “Our God has power. That’s for sure.”
Tropical Storm Helene has formed in the Caribbean Sea, and forecasters say it will strengthen into a major hurricane.
In Atlanta, 11.12 inches of rain fell over 48 hours, the most the city has seen over two days since record keeping began in 1878.
In Augusta, in eastern Georgia near the border with South Carolina, officials notified residents Sunday morning that water service would be shut off for 24 to 48 hours in the city and surrounding Richmond County. A news release said trash and debris from the storm “blocked our ability to pump water.” Officials were distributing bottled water.
President Biden said Saturday that Helene’s devastation has been “overwhelming” and pledged help. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funding available for affected individuals.
With at least 25 killed in South Carolina, Helene is the deadliest tropical cyclone for the state since Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people. Deaths also have been reported in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.
Climate change has exacerbated conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful cyclones sometimes within mere hours.
Payne, Collins and Whittle write for the Associated Press. Whittle reported from Portland, Maine, and Collins reported from Columbia, S.C. Haya Panjwani in Washington and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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