Hurricane Helene has continued to cause destruction and claim lives in the Southeast since Thursday night when it made landfall, leaving a combined death toll of 132 and nearly 600 missing as of Monday.
The catastrophic aftermath that became fully apparent on Monday left a scene of utter devastation with homes shattered, cargo containers crushed and highways engulfed in mud, according to The Associated Press. Infrastructure failures in Western North Carolina have plunged the area into crisis, cutting off roads and disrupting power and communications, forcing residents to queue for fresh water and to send messages to their loved ones to confirm that they were alive.
The storm affected Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) stated. White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall reported during Monday’s briefing that as many as 600 individuals were unaccounted for, some feared dead, AP reported.
Death toll triples in Asheville area after Hurricane Helene guts North Carolina: ‘There were bodies in the trees’ https://t.co/IRq5QpIgno pic.twitter.com/Dz2nJkHuHr
— New York Post (@nypost) September 30, 2024
President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit North Carolina on Wednesday to assess the damage and coordinate federal response efforts, the AP reported. Efforts to deliver relief to the affected regions are underway, with government and aid organizations attempting to reach isolated communities by various means, including air and truck deliveries, and even by mule. (RELATED: FEMA Lists ‘Equity’ Among Top Goals Even As Americans Face The Aftermath Of Hurricane Helene)
Relief efforts are ongoing in Asheville and Western North Carolina following the devastation of Tropical Storm Helene, according to the Citizen Times Monday. The full extent of the damage remains unclear, with more updates expected.
“There were bodies in trees. They were finding bodies under rubble,” Alyssa Hudson from Black Mountain, a village significantly impacted just 12 miles from Asheville, said, the New York Post reported Monday. “We started seeing videos of our house posted to Facebook. Our floors are caved in, our walls are gone. We had a shed in our backyard that they found two miles away.”
Breaking News: Helene in Western, NC
From my friends in Asheville:
-The hospital can no longer sterilize equipment.
-There are so many bodies in cars you can NOT count. Bodies are laying everywhere.
-There is NO AID except rescues
-100 times more dire than Katrina
-Rescue… pic.twitter.com/xBlrdDHIN1— FoxyFarmer
Breaking News: Helene in Western, NC
(@GardensR4Health) It’s hard to wrap my head around this video. Underneath all of this debris is Lake Lure in North Carolina. All of this debris is parts of homes, businesses and other belongings that were washed here by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.
This will be a very long cleanup process. pic.twitter.com/9OlXKJIrmS
— Gage Goulding – KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) September 30, 2024
Hurricane Helene Aftermath – NORTH CAROLINA
WATCH – DISASTER: North Carolina suffers historic flooding
Aerials show damages in Chimney Rock following Helene
SEP 28, 2024
Helene will end up being one of the most significant weather events of the modern era in western North… pic.twitter.com/yOW2DPUEuT
— Abhay (@AstuteGaba) September 29, 2024
Couple Kimberly and Jimmie Scott navigated through the devastated Black Mountain to rescue their daughter from Montreat College, where 1,000 students were stranded without power.
“All along the road, there were downed trees, downed power lines, structures collapsed, cars pushed over, train tracks destroyed. Buildings collapsed on the road,” Kimberly said, The Post reported.
GOP national committee member and local homeowner Ed Broyhill reported that storm damage has devastated Chimney Rock, North Carolina, washing away the community’s tourism-driven businesses into Lake Lure, Fox News reported Monday.
“The saddest thing in the world is that a lot of the folks have etched out a living catering to tourism … They have everything from hotels and motels and restaurants and nice stores and souvenir stores and clothing stores, and all of that was washed away. Every bit of it, all of it, was washed into the lake,” he said, Fox News reported.
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