Hurricane Helene | The toll rises with 84 deaths in the south-east of the country

(Perry) The toll of the hurricane Helene became significantly heavier in the southeastern United States on Sunday. The region is also facing a lack of vital supplies in isolated areas and total loss of homes and property. Authorities have warned that reconstruction will be long and difficult.

A North Carolina county that includes the mountain town of Asheville announced that 30 people were killed by the storm, bringing the total death toll to at least 84 people across several states.

Supplies were flown to the area around Asheville. Buncombe County Executive Avril Pinder promised she would get food and water to the city — which is known for its arts, culture and natural attractions — by Monday.

“We hear you. We need food and water, said M^me Pinder on a Sunday call with reporters. My staff made every possible request to the state for assistance and we worked with every organization that contacted us. What I promise you is that we are very close. »

The storm shook the entire Southeast. Deaths were also reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reach areas cut off by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.

He implored residents of western North Carolina to avoid traveling, both for their own safety and to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams fanned out across the region looking for stranded people.

A rescue operation saved 41 people north of Asheville. Another mission focused on rescuing a single infant. Teams found people through 911 calls and social media posts, North Carolina National Guard Adjutant General Todd Hunt said.

Helene the devastating

Helene washed ashore the Big Bend region of Florida as a Category 4 hurricane Thursday evening with winds of 225 km/h. A Helene The weakened state moved quickly across Georgia, then inundated the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded streams and rivers and strained dams.

Hundreds of rescues have taken place in water, including in rural Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were evacuated by helicopter from the roof of a hospital Friday .

Several million people were still without electricity on Sunday afternoon. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster asked for patience while crews dealt with broken utility poles.

“We want people to stay calm. Help is on the way, it’s just going to take time,” McMaster told reporters outside the Aiken County Airport.

The storm caused the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina. The Spruce Pine community received more than 24 inches of rain between Tuesday and Saturday.

Jessica Drye Turner, in Texas, had begged for someone to come and rescue her family members stranded on their roof in Asheville amid rising waters. “They watch the semi-trailers and cars float,” M wrote^me Turner in an urgent Facebook message Friday.

In a follow-up message on Saturday, M^me Turner said help did not arrive in time to save his parents, both in their 70s, and his 6-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and the three drowned.

“I cannot express in words the sadness, grief and devastation that my sisters and I are going through,” she wrote.

Western North Carolina was isolated by landslides and flooding.

The state was sending supplies of water and other items to Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides blocking Interstate 40 and other highways prevented the water supply. The county’s own water supplies were across the Swannanoa River, far from where most of its 270,000 residents live, authorities said.

Law enforcement planned to send officers to areas where there was still water, food or gas due to reports of arguments and threats of violence, the sheriff said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal disaster management agency is actively engaged in six states, responding to requests from governors and state-level stakeholders. She noted that the Appalachian regions across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia had particular concerns. M^me Criswell visited southern Georgia on Sunday and planned to be in North Carolina on Monday.

Evacuations began before the storm hit and continued as lakes, including the one seen in the film, Lascivious danceoverflowed the dams. Helicopters were used to rescue some people from flooded homes.

“It’s still a very active search and rescue mission” in western North Carolina, she said. “And we know there are many communities that are isolated simply because of the geography” of the mountains, where damage to roads and bridges has isolated some areas.

President Joe Biden on Saturday pledged federal aid for the ‘overwhelming’ devastation ofHelene. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funds available for those affected.

In Big Bend, Florida, some lost almost everything they owned, emerging from the storm without even a pair of shoes. While places of worship were still dark Sunday morning, with 97% of households without power, some churches canceled regular services while others, like Faith Baptist Church in Perry, chose to celebrate their worship outside.

Standing water and tree debris still cover the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. The church called on parishioners to come and pray for the community in a message posted on its social media.

“We have electricity. We don’t have electricity,” said Marie Ruttinger, a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

In Atlanta, 11 inches of rain fell in 48 hours. It was the most rainfall the city has seen in two days since record keeping began in 1878.

Expensive

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday it looked like “a bomb had gone off” after seeing homes destroyed and highways covered in debris.

In eastern Georgia, near the South Carolina border, authorities informed Augusta residents Sunday morning that water service would be cut off for 24 to 48 hours in the city and County. Surrounding Richmond.

A press release argued that trash and debris from the storm “blocked our ability to pump water.” The authorities distributed bottled water.

Moody’s Analytics Group said it expected property damage of US$15 billion to US$26 billion. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of total damage and economic losses caused by Helene in the United States is between 95 and 110 billion US dollars.

Climate change has exacerbated the conditions that allow these storms to develop. They intensify quickly in warmer waters and can sometimes take a few hours to develop into powerful cyclones.

Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on 1^er June this year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-average season due to record ocean temperatures.