Tropical Weather Latest: US Southeast struggles to recover in Hurricane Helene’s aftermath

Massive rains brought by Hurricane Helene have left many people stranded or homeless as the cleanup begins from the monster tempest that killed at least 84 people.

Helene has caused billions of dollars in destruction across a wide swath of the U.S. Southeast. Several million customers were without power Sunday. Some face a continued threat of floods.

Floodwaters that led to blocked roads and downed power lines isolated North Carolina’s hard-hit city of Asheville.

Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday and then quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

Deaths from the storm have occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

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Here’s the latest:

Overall death toll rises as North Carolina county reports 30 people killed

A North Carolina County that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people have been killed due to the storm, pushing the overall death toll to at least 84 people across several states.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the toll in Buncombe County would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.

Cooper implored 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 teams spread throughout the region in search of stranded people.

South Carolina electric grid decimated by Helene

AIKEN, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is asking for patience as nearly a third of the state’s electric customers face a third night without power.

“We want people to remain calm. Help is on the way, It is just going to take time,” McMaster told reporters outside the airport in Aiken County. He planned to fly to hard hit Greenville County, where more than 80% of the 277,000 homes and businesses were still in the dark Sunday afternoon.

The storm killed 25 people in South Carolina as it moved across the state overnight Friday, the highest death toll from a tropical system since Hurricane Hugo struck Charleston directly in 1989.

In all, more than 850,000 people – or 30% of the state’s electric customers – remained without power Sunday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.

Officials said it was taking so much time to repair and restore electricity because nearly the entire grid was destroyed. In Aiken County, 27 of 29 substations were damaged beyond repair, Aiken Electric Cooperative CEO Gary Stooksbury said.

FEMA responding to disaster declarations across six states

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal disaster agency is actively engaged across six states in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, meeting the requests of governors and state-level responders.

The needs vary across the six states with active disaster declarations, Criswell said, and she confirmed that conditions in the Appalachian regions across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia presented particular concern.

Criswell 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.”

Road and bridge outages continued to keep certain communities isolated and severe damage to communications systems has made it difficult for residents to make emergency calls or contact anyone.

Supplies being air dropped as 300 roads closed in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the state is working as hard as it can to get food and water to hundreds of thousands of people trapped and isolated by Hurricane Helene in the mountains as rescue efforts continue.

Nearly 300 roads remained closed, including Interstate 40 both west and east of Asheville, Cooper said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.

At least 45 out-of-state search-and-rescue teams joined 500 National Guard troops from the state in conducting rescues and air dropping food and water to areas that can’t be reached by road, officials said.

“We’re seeing progress, but we know the need is great,” Cooper said.

Rescuers save 41 people in one mission near Asheville

Well over 50 search teams have fanned out across the North Carolina mountains to help rescue people in danger after Hurricane Helene.

The efforts saved 41 people in one mission north of Asheville as well as rescuing an infant. The teams were finding people through both 911 calls and messages on social media, North Carolina Adjutant General Todd Hunt said.

“These swift water rescues are going on now, as we speak,” Gov. Roy Coper said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.

Death toll expected to rise in North Carolina

The death toll in Buncombe County, North Carolina, stood at 10 Sunday morning, but Sheriff Quintin Miller indicated it will likely go higher. It was not clear whether the numbers he cited overlap with 10 deaths confirmed by the state.

Telephone, cellphone and internet outages were making it difficult for authorities to notify families of the dead.

State officials were trying to deliver several tractor trailers of water and other items to Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides on Interstate 40 and other roadways were preventing supplies from making it through.

Asheville left isolated by damaged roads and lack of utilities

Floodwaters pushed by the remnants of Hurricane Helene left North Carolina’s largest mountain city isolated Saturday by damaged roads and a lack of power and cellphone service.

“Oh, we are hanging in there and trying to get over the shock of what’s happened in Asheville. But doing all right, just recovering,” said Laura Reiley, an employee at the Moxy Hotel in Asheville.

The storm blew out a hotel window, knocked down awnings and spread tree debris everywhere, she said.

Reiley says there is now a crowd of people outside the hotel using their free Wi-Fi to reach family and friends.

“We have what I call campers hanging out around the front of the hotel because they’re able to use our Wi-Fi, which is great because they can get in touch with family and friends and so we don’t have a problem with that,” she said.

Water shutoff in Augusta, Georgia, and surrounding areas

AUGUSTA, Ga. — 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 at the municipal building and said each household would receive one case.

Communications are largely cut off in the North Carolina mountains

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — With power lines gone, roads impassable and cellphone towers destroyed, it’s nearly impossible to communicate in the North Carolina mountains.

While the population center of Asheville was able to get video briefings out to the world, many counties were just able to get messages out to Facebook and other social media late Saturday.

They included posts to stay strong, to stay in place and to conserve water. But some areas have been out of touch since the storm reached its peak.

“We are going to touch every house it’s just going to take a while,” said a Facebook post by Mitchell County 911. It serves a population of around 15,000 and is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Asheville.

Instead of publishing a list of closed roads, next door Avery County just listed the eight roads in the county that are open.

A few counties that regularly post information have listed nothing since passing along flash flood emergency warnings during the worst of the storm. Other posts are from out-of-area relatives asking emergency officials to check on loved ones.

In Cherokee County in the far western part of North Carolina, the sheriff’s office posted pictures of a temporary cell tower being installed in its parking lot Saturday night.

“We will announce when it is operational, so please wait until after that time to crowd around,” deputies wrote.

Still without power, this church and others in the region are holding Sunday services

PERRY, Fla. — Many houses of worship along Florida’s Big Bend are dealing with power outages, damaged roofs and hurricane debris from Hurricane Helene. Some people in this area lost nearly everything they own.

Standing water and tree debris still covers the grounds of Faith Baptist Church in Perry. The church called on parishioners to come “pray for our community” in a message posted to the congregation’s Facebook page.

“Still no power, or water – so bathrooms will be unavailable. We have chairs, or you can bring your own!” the post reads.

Parishioners filed into the darkened sanctuary of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Perry on Sunday morning, the altar illuminated by candlelight. The cross topping the steeple of the white clapboard church was bent sideways from the hurricane-force winds and shingles ripped from the roof still scattered the grounds.

“We have power. We don’t have electricity,” parishioner Marie Ruttinger said. “Our God has power. That’s for sure.”

The Associated Press