A disaster struck western North Carolina as officials vowed to get more water, food and other supplies to flood-hit areas without power and cellphone service Monday, days after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the southeastern US. The death toll from the storm is approaching 100.
At least 91 people in several states were killed. One North Carolina county that includes the mountain town of Asheville reported 30 deaths.
Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reach remote areas due to broken roads, broken infrastructure and flooding.
The supplies were airlifted to the area around Asheville. Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder pledged to have food and water in town Monday, four days after Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area as a Category 4 hurricane.
“We hear you. We need food and we need water,” said Pinder in his call on Sunday with reporters.
“My staff has been making every request available to the government to get support and we have been working with each organization that has reached out. What I promise is that we are very close.”
Officials warned that rebuilding from the loss of homes and property would be long and difficult. The storm improved all life in the southeast. Deaths were also reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.
“I want to remind all North Carolinians that conditions on the ground are still very dangerous, as the flooding has continued, and will continue to recede,” said North Carolina Emergency Management Director William Ray-North on Sunday.
Roads are damaged, power lines are down and the world is unstable. Rivers in the mountains are filled with rain and the flood waters may take time to dissipate, he said.
“We asked people not to put themselves in the areas affected by the storms, to look after their places, the people they love or go to see the places,” said Ray-North.
“Besides putting yourself at risk, you may also interfere with the emergency services or repairmen.”
Cooper urged residents in western North Carolina to avoid travel, for their own safety and to keep roads open for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search parties are spread across the region looking for the trapped people.
One rescue attempt involved saving 41 people north of Asheville. Another goal was to save one baby. Crews contacted people through both 911 calls and text messages, said Army Maj. Gen. Todd Hunt.
Biden to visit the site
US President Joe Biden on Sunday evening described the impact of the storm as “amazing” and said he will visit the area this week as long as it does not interfere with the rescue or relief work. In a brief interview with reporters, he said the administration is giving states “everything we have” to help in their response to the storm.
Biden also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina on Saturday, making federal funding available to affected people.
Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm with 225 km/h winds. A weakened Helene moved quickly across Georgia, then drenched the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded streams and rivers and damaged dams.
There were thousands of water rescues, including in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were taken by helicopter from the roof of a hospital on Friday.
The power outage continues
More than two million homeowners and other utility customers were still without power Sunday night. South Carolina experienced major outages and Gov. Henry McMaster asked for patience as crews dealt with widespread downed power poles.
“We want people to calm down. Help is on the way. It’s going to take time,” McMaster told reporters outside the Aiken County Airport.
The storm caused the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina. One community, Spruce Pine, received more than 61 inches of rain from Tuesday through Saturday.
Calling for help before drowning 3
Jessica Drye Turner of Texas pleaded for someone to rescue her family members who were trapped on their roof in Asheville amid rising floodwaters.
“Watching 18-wheelers and cars float,” Turner wrote in an emergency Facebook post Friday.
But in a follow-up message on Saturday, Turner said help did not come in time to save his parents, both in their 70s, and his six-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and the three drowned.
“I can’t put into words the sadness, grief and sorrow my sister and I are going through,” she wrote.
The state was sending water and other supplies to Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides blocking Interstate 40 and other highways have prevented that from happening. The county’s water was across the Swannanoa River, far from where most of Buncombe County’s 270,000 residents live, officials said.
Law enforcement officials were making plans to send officers to areas that still had water, food or gas supplies due to reports of disputes and threats of violence, a county official said.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Deanne Criswell visited southern Georgia on Sunday and plans to be in North Carolina on Monday.
“It’s still very much a search and rescue operation” in western North Carolina, Criswell said. “And we know that there are many communities that have been cut off just because of the terrain” of the mountains, where damage to roads and bridges cut off certain areas.
Hurricane-ravaged Florida is evacuating
In Florida’s Big Bend, some lost almost everything they owned. With sanctuaries still dark since Sunday morning, some churches have canceled regular services and others like Faith Baptist Church in Perry have chosen to worship outside.
Standing water and tree debris still cover the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. The church urged believers to come and “pray for our community” in a message posted on the church’s Facebook page.
Hurricane Helene killed dozens and left millions without power in many US states.
“We have power. We don’t have electricity,” said Immaculate Conception Catholic Church parishioner Marie Ruttinger. “Our God is powerful. That’s right.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said on Saturday it looked like a “bomb went off” after seeing homes and highways covered in debris from the air.
In eastern Georgia near the South Carolina border, officials notified Augusta residents Sunday morning that water service will 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 “impeded our ability to pump water.” Officials were handing out bottled water.
With at least 25 dead in South Carolina, Helene was the state’s worst hurricane since Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people. Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in US property damage.