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Hurricane Helen is now the deadliest storm since Katrina, with 182 deaths confirmed Wednesday across six southeastern states.
Most of the deaths were reported in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, where swollen rivers caused massive flooding, triggering debris and landslides.
More deaths are expected to be reported in North Carolina in the coming days. In South Carolina, where 449,000 people were still without power, 39 people died.
“Based on the current data we have, it appears that up to 600 lives could be lost,” Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall warned Monday. “But we have not had any confirmation on that. “We believe there are as many as 600 people missing or missing.”
She warned that the figures ‘varie widely’ and that ‘there are many reports that do not add up to the figures’.
Joe Biden visited Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday to meet with first responders and others affected by Helen. Officials said the president had waited to travel there until it was determined his presence would not interfere with rescue efforts.
Biden praised Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster for their storm response and said “we put politics aside” during disasters. “No one can deny the impact of the climate crisis any longer,” Biden said, adding, “The storm is getting stronger.”
The damage was particularly severe in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where at least 57 people were killed, including around Asheville, North Carolina, a tourist paradise known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities. “The community has been wiped off the map,” Cooper said at a news conference Tuesday.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced Tuesday afternoon that the death toll from the storm in his state had risen to 36.
Among the dead were Marcia, 74, and Jerry Savage, 78, who were found hugging each other in bed after being struck to death by a tree that collapsed on their home. Their grandson, John Savage, 22, who found them, told The Associated Press that his grandfather may have stooped to protect his wife moments before he died.
Dozens more South Carolinians have died in similar circumstances after trees fell on homes or cars. The dead included two South Carolina firefighters who died when a tree fell on their truck.
Tennessee authorities said Wednesday they are investigating the company that owns the Impact Plastics plastics plant in the small rural Tennessee town of Erwin, where 11 workers were swept away by flooding after the plant remained open.
Some claimed they were not allowed to leave in time to avoid the effects of the storm. It wasn’t until the parking lot flooded and the power went out that the plant closed and sent its workers home. Of the 11 people who were swept away, only 5 were rescued. Of these, two were confirmed dead.
Thousands of federal personnel have been deployed to respond to the destruction caused by the storm, and hundreds of people are believed to be missing across six states.
Facebook group with over 477,000 members Posts from people looking for family. Some even provided updates saying they had found their loved ones.
Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend last Thursday as a Category 4 storm and then moved toward the East Coast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recorded that 15 feet of storm surge with winds of 140 mph hit Taylor County in Florida, and 29 inches of rain fell in western North Carolina as the storm stalled in the region.
Helen is the second deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Flackmins Parish, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005. The Category 5 storm killed nearly 1,400 people.
In 2022, Hurricane Ian killed 156 people across Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia.
A consortium of scientists confirmed this week that the human-caused climate crisis played a role in making Helen a much stronger and wetter storm.
A report by ClimaMeter, which analyzes extreme weather events, found that rainfall in Helene was up to 20% higher and winds were up to 7% stronger.
The consortium noted that rising ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, which climate scientists have warned about for years, likely contributed to Helen’s strength.
In an interview with CBS Face The NationShe said rising temperatures in the Gulf have created conditions that have resulted in “significant infrastructure damage” that has affected several states.
“This storm took a while to develop, but once it did, it strengthened very quickly. This is because the warm waters of the Gulf are creating more storms that reach these major category levels,” she said. . Storm surge amounts were greater in coastal areas and precipitation increased as the storm moved north.
“In the past, damage from hurricanes was primarily wind damage, but now we’re seeing a lot more water damage, and that’s a result of warmer waters due to climate change,” she said.
