Death toll in Helene rises to 120 as millions remain without power: NPR

Heavy rains from Hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage in Asheville, North Carolina, on Saturday

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As rescue teams respond to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States and southern Appalachia, the death toll continues to rise. At least 120 people have been killed in several states and hundreds of residents are still missing, according to the Associated Press.

Many people drowned because they did not follow evacuation orders; others were killed in their homes and cars by falling trees and road signs. At least two Georgians died when a tornado hit their car. Deaths have also been reported in Florida, South Carolina and Virginia.

Much of the region remained dark, and power was still out for more than three million customers in five states as of early Monday afternoon, three days after Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region. Officials warned that rebuilding would be long and difficult after widespread loss of homes and property.

President Biden described the storm's impact as “amazing” and said he would visit the area this week as long as it did not affect rescue or recovery efforts.

In a brief exchange with reporters, he said the administration is giving states “everything we have” to help with their response to the storm.

Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday in the Big Bend region of Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph (225 km/h). A weakened Helen moved quickly through Georgia and then inundated the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded streams and rivers and overwhelmed dams.

North Carolina

Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the death toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency responders reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding. A North Carolina county that includes the mountain town of Asheville reported 30 deaths.

Communication outages, power outages, fuel shortages and drinking water shortages occurred across much of Western North Carolina over the weekend. Flooding remained, hindering travel.

Cooper urged residents in western North Carolina to avoid travel, both for their own safety and to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search parties spread across the entire region in search of stranded people.

41 people were saved in a rescue operation north of Asheville. Another mission focused on rescuing a single infant. Teams found people through both 911 calls and social media messages, said Todd Hunt, adjutant general for the North Carolina National Guard.

Asheville, North Carolina experienced flooding damage from Hurricane Helene on Sunday

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Officials said residents should only drink purified and bottled water until public water systems come back online.

More than 400,000 homes and businesses nationwide were without power Monday morning, according to Poweroutage.us.

Florida

Hours before Helene made landfall in the sparsely populated areas of Florida's Big Bend region on Thursday, its 120 mph winds created a storm surge that dumped more than 5 feet of water – up to 16 feet in some areas – along large parts of the west coast of Florida sent.

Helene turned the Tampa Bay region into the state's deadly epicenter, where the death toll reached nine people on Sunday. All deaths occurred in a mandatory evacuation zone. The majority were due to rising water or apparent drowning, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.

Georgia

Georgians are being urged to conserve water in Augusta after trash and debris in the Savannah River clogged the city's water filtration systems. Emergency management officials said at a news conference Sunday afternoon that water service should be restored within 24 to 48 hours.

Helene entered Georgia early Friday with wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour. WABE reported. The statewide death toll rose from 17 to 25 people as of Monday, including a first responder, according to WABE.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said it looked that way “As if a bomb had exploded” after viewing splintered houses and debris-covered highways from the air. Kemp said the section from Augusta to Valdosta was particularly hard hit, where about 115 buildings were severely damaged.

South Carolina

Residents with cans of gasoline stand in line at a Gas Plus gas station following Hurricane Helene on Sunday in North Augusta, S.C

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The state's death toll was highest in Spartanburg County, where at least five people were killed, South Carolina Public Radio reported.

There were frequent power outages in the western half of the state. In Greenville County, the state's most populous, more than 200,000 people were without power Sunday evening.

Tennessee

Unicoi County officials said 73 people were missing as of Sunday afternoon. There were no confirmed deaths, an incident management team spokesman said at a news conference.

The county saw perhaps the most dramatic rescue from Helene's wrath after rising floodwaters left more than 50 people stranded on the roof of a small hospital in Erwin, eastern Tennessee.

Erwin Utility said Sunday evening that 533 of its 5,195 water customers were without water.

A Unicoi County Schools official said during the conference that it was “unlikely” that schools would have reopened by the second week of October, but that the district was working to reopen schools as quickly as possible.