The terrible passage of Hurricane Helene has left nearly one hundred dead in six states in the southeastern United States. The The majority of deaths are reported in North Carolina and the Government has signed a “major disaster” declaration to expedite assistance efforts.
The last official count of victims had 36 dead in North Carolina, 25 in South Carolina, including two firefighters; 17 in Georgia; 11 in Florida; two in Virginia; and two others in Tennessee.
The number could increase in the following hours, according to According to CBS television, the death toll is 105.with 30 deaths in Buncombe County, North Carolina, one of the most affected areas.
Helene came in on Thursday night as a category 4 hurricane on the southeastern coast of Florida and made its way north, with torrential rains and hurricane-force winds that have caused devastating scenes in which rescue and recovery teams are struggling today.
The situation in North Carolina
North Carolina is one of the worst affected states, especially on its western flank: an example of the catastrophe has been the town of Asheville, partially submerged, with its houses destroyed and streets full of debris, according to local media.
The governor, Roy Cooper, explained this Sunday in a press conference that the heavy rains that fell in the mountains of the state caused landslides that destroyed roadsknocked down light poles and telecommunications towers on their way to residential areas.
Some 280 state highways are still closed and that makes emergency work difficult, which is why the authorities are bringing resources, food and water to the trapped people by air; There are also about 1,000 people in shelters, Cooper said.
The North Carolina airports, located in Asheville and Charlotte, are the main ones in the US today affected by cancellations and delays, although they continue with most of their operations.
The governor considered Helene “one of the worst storms in modern history” of the state and anticipated more victims, since there are numerous reports of missing people.
They face a similar scenario in Unicoi County, east of Tennessee, where authorities are searching for more than 70 missing people, according to authorities reported in a press conference on Sunday morning.
The hardships are being increased by the blackouts that keep 2.4 million people without power in the five most affected southeastern states, and another 130,000 in the five northern neighbors where the hurricane weakened.
Helene, which was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, is no longer being monitored by meteorological authorities, but will leave heavy rain in the southern Appalachian mountain range until tomorrow.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coordinating hundreds of troops in rescue efforts and recovery, and its administrator, Deanne Criswell, noted in X that some communities hit by Helene were still suffering the ravages of Hurricane Idalia (2023).
