Author: Kate Payne, Jeffrey Collins and Patrick Whittle
PERRY, Fla. (AP) — In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, authorities are scrambling to deliver water and other supplies to remote flood-stricken areas across the southeastern U.S. as the death toll from the storm rises.
One North Carolina county, including the mountain town of Asheville, reported 30 deaths from the storm, and several other deaths reported in North Carolina on Sunday brought the total to at least 91 in multiple states.
Supplies are being flown to surrounding areas of the isolated city. Buncombe County Supervisor Avril Pinder pledged that she would provide food and water by Monday to Asheville, known for its arts, culture and natural attractions.
“We hear you. We need food, we need water,” Pinder told reporters on Sunday. “My staff has been making every possible request for support from the state and we have been working with every organization that has reached out. I assure you, we are very close.
Officials warned that rebuilding after widespread damage to homes and property would be long and difficult. The storm upended life across the Southeast. Deaths have also been reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.
North Carolina governor predicts death toll to rise as rescuers reach remote areas
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the death toll would rise as rescue workers and other emergency workers reach areas isolated by collapsed roads, failed infrastructure and widespread flooding.
He implored residents of western North Carolina to avoid traveling, both for their own safety and to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search and rescue teams are spread across the region looking for stranded people.
A rescue operation saved 41 people north of Asheville. Another mission focuses on rescuing a baby. North Carolina National Guard Adjutant General Todd Hunt said the teams are looking for people through 911 calls and social media messages.
President Joe Biden called the storm's impact “shocking” and said he would visit the region this week as long as the storm did not affect relief or recovery efforts.
Hurricane Helen roared into the Big Bend, Florida, area on Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph (225 kph). A weakened Helen moved quickly through Georgia, then flooded the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains, flooding creeks and rivers and overwhelming dams.
There have been hundreds of water rescues, including in rural Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee, where helicopters rescued dozens of patients and staff from hospital rooftops on Friday.
More than 2 million homeowners and other utility customers remained without power Sunday night. South Carolina had the most power outages, and Gov. Henry McMaster asked for patience as crews dealt with widespread broken power poles.
“We want people to stay calm. Help is on the way, it just takes time,” McMaster told reporters outside the Aiken County Airport.
Looking for help in North Carolina because it's slow to come
The storm caused the worst flooding in North Carolina in a century. The community of Spruce Pine received more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain Tuesday through Saturday.
Jessica Drye Turner of Texas is pleading for help to rescue her family who were trapped on a rooftop in Asheville due to rising floodwaters. “They were watching 18-wheelers and cars drift by,” Turner wrote in an emergency Facebook post on Friday.
But Turner said in a follow-up message on Saturday that rescuers failed to arrive in time to save her parents, who are in their 70s, and her 6-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and three people drowned.
“I have no words to express the sadness, heartbreak and devastation my sisters and I are experiencing,” she wrote.
The state was delivering water and other supplies to Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides blocked Interstate 40 and other highways, preventing supplies from being delivered. The county's own water system is on the other side of the Swannanoa River, far from where most of Buncombe County's 270,000 people live, officials said.
The county sheriff said law enforcement is planning to send deputies to places where water, food or gas is still available due to reports of altercations and threats of violence.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell visited southern Georgia on Sunday and plans to travel to North Carolina on Monday.
“This is still a very active search and rescue mission” in western North Carolina, Criswell said. “We know there are many communities that are isolated simply because of their mountainous location,” with damage to roads and bridges leaving some areas isolated.
Biden on Saturday pledged federal help for the “tremendous” damage suffered by Helen. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina to provide federal funds to affected individuals.
Excavations underway in storm-battered state of Florence, residents gather at church
In Big Bend, Florida, some people lost almost everything they owned. As of Sunday morning, the temple remained dark, with some churches canceling regular services and others, like Perry Faith Baptist Church, choosing to worship outdoors.
Standing water and tree debris still cover the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. The church posted a message on the congregation's Facebook page, asking parishioners to “pray for our community.”
“We have power. We don't have 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 that things looked “like a bomb went off” after seeing shattered homes and debris-covered highways from the air.
In eastern Georgia, near the South Carolina border, officials notified Augusta residents Sunday morning that water service in the city and surrounding Richmond County would be shut down for 24 to 48 hours.
Trash and debris from the storm “impeded our ability to pump water,” a news release said. Officials are handing out bottled water.
Helen was the deadliest tropical cyclone in South Carolina since Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing at least 25 people in South Carolina.
Moody's Analytics said property losses are expected to reach $15 billion to $26 billion.
Climate change has exacerbated the conditions in which such storms rage, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and sometimes becoming powerful cyclones within hours.
Forecasters say new tropical depression in Atlantic Ocean could become powerful hurricane
A neotropical depression in the eastern Atlantic Ocean could become a “terrible hurricane” later this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Sunday. The center said the depression, which sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph), was located about 585 miles (945 kilometers) west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. It could become a hurricane by Wednesday.
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine, and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Washington's Haya Panjwani, Atlanta's Kate Brumback and Billings, Montana's Matthew Brown also contributed.
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