FOLLOW US

It has been one week since Hurricane Helene hit.

The death toll from Hurricane Helene continues to climb as rescue operations persist across the southeastern United States.

Many hard-hit areas, especially parts of western North Carolina, are receiving aid from neighboring states as emergency crews work tirelessly to reach isolated communities devastated by catastrophic flooding.

Communities in western North Carolina were particularly hard-hit, with widespread flooding causing the destruction of hundreds of roads and bridges.

Small towns like Chimney Rock, Swannanoa, and Biltmore Village have seen entire sections of their regions either destroyed or washed away.

Scenes of devastation show entire communities in ruins as floodwaters continue to wreak havoc on the area.

So far, over 500 individuals have been rescued, and hundreds of pallets of food and water have been delivered to affected areas. 

More than 1,100 people have taken refuge in dozens of shelters, with officials working to open additional facilities to house those who have been displaced and have nowhere else to go.

Helene Update: Search and Rescue 

As of today, 215 people are confirmed dead across six states: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. 

This makes Hurricane Helene the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland U.S. in the past 55 years, trailing only Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The death toll has also surpassed that of Hurricane Camille, which hit the Gulf Coast in August 1969.

North Carolina has reported 114 confirmed deaths as of Friday, but the number is expected to rise as hundreds of people remain unaccounted for due to ongoing power and communication outages. Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, has seen dozens of fatalities.

President Biden approved emergency requests for FEMA resources in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Alabama prior to Hurricane Helene making landfall. 

FEMA 

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell spoke with CBS News last Sunday, saying, "The states affected by the storm are going to have very complicated recoveries, but we will continue to bring those resources in to help them, technical assistance as they're trying to identify the best ways to rebuild."

Criswell acknowledged the challenges faced by the affected states, adding, "I don't know that anybody could be fully prepared for the amount of flooding and landslides they are having right now."

FEMA has deployed over 800 staff members, along with essential distribution centers and equipment, to the states most impacted by Hurricane Helene. 

The National Guard

Approximately 6,700 National Guard members from 16 states across the U.S. have been mobilized as part of emergency management assistance compacts.

The National Guard has been activated to provide critical assistance to the hardest-hit areas. In North Carolina alone, over 1,100 soldiers and airmen are on active duty, utilizing nearly 400 vehicles and 26 aircraft to aid in recovery efforts, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

 They are involved in high-water rescues, debris clearance, transportation and distribution of disaster relief supplies, search and rescue operations, and route clearance. 

The timeline for how long these National Guard members will remain activated is uncertain, according to Army Maj. Gen. Win Burkett, director of operations at the National Guard Bureau.

The American Red Cross has received more than 5,000 requests for help from those looking for lost loved ones. The agency reported more than 2,400 survivors were still in 75 shelters from Florida to North Carolina.

Power and Phone Outages

Over half a million of people in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Georgia are still without electricity as of Friday 10/24/2024, per poweroutage.us.

Landlines and cell phone service is also still down in many of the impacted areas.