Helene Death Toll Rises While Supplies Are Rushed To North Carolina And Florida Digs Out

LOADING ERROR LOADING PERRY, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Southeast grappled Sunday with rising death tolls, a lack of vital supplies in isolated, flood-stricken areas and the widespread loss of homes and property while the devastating toll of Hurricane Helene became more clear and officials warned of a lengthy and difficult rebuild. A North Carolina County that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people killed due to the storm, pushing the overall death toll to at least 84 people across several states. Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder pledged that she would have food and water into the city — which is known for its arts, culture and natural attractions — by Monday. We need food and we need water,” Pinder said on a Sunday call with reporters. What I promise you is that we are very close.” Hurricane Helene left this store in shambles in the Pass-A-Grille community of St. Pete Beach, FL, on Saturday. Deaths also were reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia. Roy Cooper predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding. He implored residents in western North Carolina to avoid travel, both for their own safety and to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. The teams found people through both 911 calls and social media messages, North Carolina National Guard Adjutant General Todd Hunt said. A weakened Helene quickly moved through Georgia, then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded creeks and rivers and strained dams. There have been hundreds of water rescues, including in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop Friday. Help is on the way, it is just going to take time,” McMaster told reporters outside the airport in Aiken County. Heavy rains from Hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage in Asheville, North Carolina. One community, Spruce Pine, was doused with over 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain from Tuesday through Saturday. “They are watching 18-wheelers and cars floating by,” Turner wrote in an urgent Facebook post on Friday. Advertisement But in a follow-up message Saturday, Turner said help had not arrived in time to save her parents, both in their 70s, and her 6-year-old nephew. “I cannot convey in words the sorrow, heartbreak and devastation my sisters and I are going through,” she wrote. The state was sending water supplies and other items toward Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides blocking Interstate 40 and other highways prevented supplies from making it. The county’s own water supplies were on the other side of the Swannanoa River, away from where most of the 270,000 people in Buncombe County live, officials said. Law enforcement was making plans to send officers to places that still had water, food or gas because of reports of arguments and threats of violence, the sheriff said. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal disaster agency was actively engaged across six states, meeting the requests of governors and state-level responders. She noted the Appalachian regions across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia presented particular concerns. Advertisement “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” of the mountains, where damage to roads and bridges have cut off certain areas. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funding available for affected individuals. The Steen family picks rotten trash from piles of seaweed that the storm surge carried to their home in Steinhatchee, Florida, on Saturday. via Associated Press In Florida’s Big Bend, some lost nearly everything they own. With sanctuaries still darkened as of Sunday morning, some churches canceled regular services while others like Faith Baptist Church in Perry opted to worship outside. We don’t have electricity,” Immaculate Conception Catholic Church parishioner Marie Ruttinger said. That’s for sure.” In Atlanta, 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain fell over 48 hours, the most the city has seen over two days since record keeping began in 1878. In eastern Georgia near the border with South Carolina, officials notified Augusta residents Sunday morning that water service would be shut off for 24 to 48 hours in the city and surrounding Richmond County. Advertisement With at least 25 killed in South Carolina, Helene was the deadliest tropical cyclone for the state since Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people. Climate change has exacerbated conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful cyclones sometimes within hours. ___ Whittle reported from Portland, Maine, and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/helene-florida-nc_n_66f98213e4b019aae3aa2c78