Death toll from Hurricane Helene mounts as aftermath assessment begins

Rescue teams across the southeastern U.S. and southern Appalachia scrambled to respond to the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, as more than 2.6 million homes and businesses were without any power Saturday amid a continued threat of floods.

At least 64 people were killed across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, The Associated Press reported. The dead included three firefighters, a mother and her 1-month-old twins and an 89-year-old woman who was struck by a tree that hit her house.

Moody's Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage from the hurricane, which by late Friday had been downgraded to a tropical storm and was a post-tropical cyclone on Saturday. AccuWeather's preliminary estimate for total damage and economic loss, meanwhile, was between $95-$110 billion, which would make Helene one of the costliest storms in U.S. history.

President Joe Biden described the devastation on Saturday as "overwhelming" and pledged that help was on the way.

The White House said it had approved emergency declaration requests from the governors of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, giving the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, authorization to provide emergency response assistance. Some 1,500 federal disaster response personnel had also been deployed to the region.

In Florida, beaches along the coast near Tampa remained off limits as rescue and recovery operations continued. Andrew Swan, who lives in a house near the beach, told NPR member station WUSF reporter Stephanie Colombini that he rode out the storm alone, with waters rising up to his chest.

“I mean everybody is just kind of in shock and just trying to pick up the pieces. I mean nobody really expected it like this,” Swan said. As the waters rose, Swan said he slept on a kitchen counter with his legs draped over his stove.

In North Carolina, Helene produced unusually heavy winds — up to 140 mph — on land, the strongest observed in coastal North Carolina since the start of modern meteorological recordkeeping in the 19th century.

Experts said they were most worried about the flow of debris that was yet to come.

“To me, the biggest concerns around here are debris flows, which are very wet, very fast moving and can travel long distances,” Brad Johnson, who studies landslides and erosion at Davidson College, told NPR member station WFAE.

Johnson added that the debris flows can travel over a mile, carrying rocks, trees and other hazards.

Western North Carolina city waits for water and power

Widespread flooding and landslides in western North Carolina impeded rescue missions on Saturday, as did the lack of cellphone service. More than 600,000 homes and businesses statewide remained without power on Saturday evening, according to Poweroutage.us.

Non-emergency traffic on the roads was also choking the response, officials said. The North Carolina Department of Transportation said all roads in the region should be considered closed, noting that Interstates 40 and 26 were impassable: "Travel in this area for non-emergency purposes is hindering needed emergency response,” it said.

Local officials urged people to stay home as long as it was safe there.

In Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, disaster response teams described what they referred to as "biblical flooding" across the western region as they continued to attempt rescues.

"Swift water rescues are still occurring throughout the county, and we have, we have exceeded over 150 rescues," Ryan Cole, the county's assistant emergency services director told NPR member station Blue Ridge Public Radio.

Electricity, water and cell service was shut off to a large part of the region, including in Asheville. Officials have not said when they expect power and water to return.

In a video posted to Facebook on Sunday morning, Asheville councilmember Maggie Ullman said the city was "working heavily" on a water distribution plan to get residents drinkable water.

"I don't know the details of that plan, but details should be coming shortly," she said.

Resident Richie Gedihovich told Blue Ridge Public Radio on Saturday that the Asheville area was in “full chaos.”

“Everything is so flooded. There are telephone lines down all over the place, trees have hit houses,” Gedihovich said. “Three massive pine trees fell on one house on Brookshire Road. It’s been tough.”

Gedihovich told the NPR member station that his basement was under 4 inches of water and he needed a Wi-Fi signal.

Officials in Buncombe County said they expected Wi-Fi units to reach shelters on Sunday.

Damaged infrastructure hampered cell service west of I-77. Network providers have enabled "disaster roaming," Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said, meaning that people will be able to find service on any working network regardless of their provider.

Representatives from Verizon and AT&T said they were working to restore service, BPR reported.

In a statement Saturday, the governor said more than 200 people were rescued from flood waters.

“This is a historic and catastrophic storm for Western North Carolina,” Cooper said. “Efforts are also underway to get power and communications restored, and we’re bringing in needed supplies by air."

Record rainfall in Georgia and North Carolina

Heavy rains from Helene set a record in Atlanta, which received its highest 48-hour rainfall on record over the past two days. The Georgia Climate Office tweeted that the area saw 11.12 inches of rain as of mid-day Friday, beating a previous record of 9.59 inches set in 1886.

In North Carolina, the rainfall totals Friday afternoon were staggering: 29.58 inches for Busick, N.C.; 24.20 for nearby Mount Mitchell State Park; about 13 inches in Boone, some 55 miles away.

The storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain in Wilmington and wrought serious damage to coastal homes and small buildings, as well as agricultural fields.

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