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.”
