The death toll from powerful Hurricane Helene rose to at least 91 on Sunday, with 30 deaths reported in one North Carolina county alone, officials said, while rescue teams scrambled to reach people in need across the Southeastern United States. Are struggling for.
The storm caused extensive damage across several states, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, with high winds and torrential rains that left some cities in ruins, flooding roads and knocking out power to millions.
“We’re hearing about damage to critical infrastructure including water systems, communications, roads, critical transportation routes, as well as many homes that have just been destroyed,” said Dean Creswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. sunday.
“So it’s going to be a really complex recovery in each of these five states that have been impacted by these,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
The extreme weather killed at least 91 people — 37 in North Carolina, 25 in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida and one in Virginia, according to data from local authorities compiled by AFP.
“We have another devastating update. We now have a confirmed loss of 30 people due to the storm,” Quentin Miller, Sheriff of North Carolina’s Buncombe County, which includes the tourist city of Asheville, told a briefing.
“We are still conducting search operations and we are aware that they may also include recovery operations.”
National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said flash flood warnings remained in effect for parts of western North Carolina on Sunday, due to the threat of levee breaks.
He said the weather is expected to become normal in the affected areas around Tuesday.
According to tracker poweroutage.us, about 2.5 million homes remained without power on Sunday.
U.S. Energy Department official Matt Targuagno said crews are working hard to restore power, but warned that it will be “a complex, multi-day response.”
Thousands of people continued to seek assistance at shelters run by the American Red Cross, organization official Jennifer Pipa said.
bridges washed away
Helene struck Florida’s northern Gulf Coast as a massive category four hurricane with winds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour.
Despite being weak, it wreaked havoc.
US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that one of his senior advisers was monitoring the situation in Florida.
North Carolina saw the worst flooding, with Governor Roy Cooper saying damaged or flooded roads were forcing rescue workers to airlift supplies to some areas.
“I don’t know that anyone can be fully prepared for the amount of flooding and mudslides that they’re experiencing right now,” Criswell said on CBS. He said more search and rescue teams were being deployed.
William Ray, director of the state’s Department of Emergency Management, warned that conditions were still extremely dangerous.
Hundreds of roads remained closed across the region, with several bridges washed away by flood waters.
Four major interstate highways in North Carolina and Tennessee were closed, with “several” bridges still closed, said Kristin White of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
He said Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina each had more than 100 road closures.
In the city of Valdosta, Georgia, the storm blew roofs off buildings and downed power poles and trees at street intersections.
“The wind started really hitting, like, branches and pieces of roof were hitting the side of the building and hitting the windows,” said Valdosta resident Steven Mauro.
“And then we were looking outside and then literally this whole street, just everything went black.”
Republican former President and current candidate Donald Trump will visit Valdosta on Monday for a briefing on the disaster, his campaign said.
President Joe Biden, who has approved federal aid for several states in the wake of the disaster, intends to travel to hard-hit areas this week, the White House said Sunday, “as long as it does not disrupt emergency response operations.” Will do.”
He directed FEMA Administrator Creswell to determine “what more can be done to accelerate assistance to people who are having the hardest time getting assistance in isolated communities”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
