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Hard-hit areas struggling after Helene; at least 100 dead: Live updates

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Hard-hit areas struggling after Helene; at least 100 dead: Live updates

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. − At least 100 people were dead and over 2 million homes and businesses remained in the dark across the Southeast on Monday, the region under siege from historic flooding driven by Hurricane Helene and its remnants.

Hundreds of water rescues have taken place across Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia since Helene’s brutal landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area late Thursday. 

Atlanta totaled more than 11 inches of rain in 48 hours, smashing a record that stood for almost 150 years. Western North Carolina took the brunt of the devastating rains, and more than 30 inches was recorded in some areas. Houses floated away from subdivisions, bridges crumbled, semi-trucks were tossed into mangled piles. Mud, tree branches and food from local grocery stores flowed into the streets.

The confirmed death toll here in Buncombe County alone climbed to 35 and was expected to rise, the sheriff said Monday. Officials have received about 600 missing persons reports, although many are expected to be resolved when communications are restored.

“We don’t have water and we do not have power across most of the county,” County Manager Avril Pinder said. “The roads are still incredibly dangerous.”

Gov. Roy Cooper activated more than 500 soldiers and airmen from the National Guard. More than 200 vehicles and aircraft, including hoist and emergency aviation assets and high-water response vehicles, were feverishly working to save lives.

President Joe Biden assured communities reeling from the devastation that the “nation has your back,” and that help was on the way.

“We’ll continue to serve resources including food, water, communications, and lifesaving equipment will be there,” Biden said Monday. “I mean it − as long as it takes to finish this job.”

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‘Biblical devastation’: Helene leaves trail of destruction

Developments:

∎ AccuWeather has increased its estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Helene to between $145 billion and $160 billion. Helene is expected to be one of the costliest storms in U.S. history because of its overwhelming storm surge, winds and flooding, the weather service said.

∎ Vice President Kamala Harris will cut short a campaign trip and plans a visit to the storm-ravaged Southeast, her office told Reuters. Former President Donald Trump, who said he will visit the region, has criticized Harris for campaigning as the tragedy unfolded.

∎ Energy production in the Gulf was recovering. Only 3% of crude oil and 1% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico remained shut down in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said late Sunday.

Storm tracker: National Hurricane Center tracking Tropical Depression Joyce, 4 other systems

DeSantis orders rescues in western North Carolina

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered rescue teams to mobilize air lifts for people from Florida who may be stranded in western North Carolina in areas with blocked roads and power and cell phone outages.

“Operation Blue Ridge” launched Sunday, an effort similar to one he’d ordered almost a year ago to help Florida residents in Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, and from Haiti earlier this year amid that country’s political violence. 

Speaking to reporters in Steinhatchee Monday, DeSantis said, “If we can bring people back from Israel by the hundreds when Hamas is raining rockets down, we should be able to get some helos into the Blue Ridge Mountains and get some people out of there.”

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Ron DeSantis on Helene rescue efforts for stranded Florida residents

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a multi-state recovery effort for those stranded by Hurricane Helene.

Recovery efforts are ongoing in Florida in the aftermath of Helene, with at least 11 people killed in the state including at least nine in Pinellas County — hundreds of miles from where the storm made landfall.

DeSantis said he missed a call from President Joe Biden because he was in the air, viewing damage. The governor added that the federal government should concentrate its efforts on helping those in western North Carolina, though he said Florida might ask for more federal assistance in the future.

— Gray Rohrer, Tallahassee Democrat

MARSHALL, N.C. — Days after flooding devastated this tiny town of less than 800 people, cleanup crews on Monday worked to remove thick mud and debris while business owners pulled belongings from waterlogged downtown buildings. The historic town, set along the French Broad River north of Asheville, was slammed by a deluge that reached to the first-floor roof of some downtown buildings. It also damaged a water treatment plant across the river.Most of the town was without power and cellular service. The damage extended to some businesses that in recent years have become part of an artistic renewal in the downtown area. As excavators and equipment buzzed around him, Chad Adamowski and his friends were shoveling mud out of his tattoo and music store, hoping to tear out walls before mold set in. “It’s a race against time,” he said.

— Chris Kenning

Disaster relief organizations are providing free food and supplies in the Asheville area amid massive, urgent need. Global relief organization World Central Kitchen began distributing free meals for the public on Monday. WCK is also providing meals in Florida and Georgia. The organization was founded by celebrity chef José Andrés in 2010 to provide fresh food on the frontlines of humanitarian disasters in the United States and around the world.

“Asheville, we are here,” the group tweeted Monday. “WCK is in North Carolina working to reach flooded communities and families stranded by Hurricane Helene.”

− Tiana Kennell, USA TODAY NETWORK

In Burnsville, North Carolina, Suzanne Vale on Monday posted the names of her neighbors in a group Facebook chat in hopes that someone knows how they’re doing. She is among hundreds of people who are turning to social media for help to contact friends and loved ones in parts of the Southeast that were battered by Helene. Communication blackouts created by Helene’s fury have made obtaining information difficult.

As the storm approached Florida, Vale and her husband drove from their Burnsville home in the Blue Ridge Mountains to their house in Dunedin, a coastal town west of Tampa. While their Florida home was unscathed, their worry immediately became centered on Burnsville, where washed-out bridges and roads have left residents trapped with no means to communicate with the outside world.

“No one’s been able to get a hold of anyone up there. I’m sure they’re OK, it’s just not knowing,” she said, speaking about her friends and neighbors. “It’s beyond comprehension what’s happened.”

− Christopher Cann

RED HILL, N.C. – James Waters watched Helene’s torrential rains and fierce winds decimate his farm set among the hilly slopes of Appalachian North Carolina, snapping trees, ripping out fences and causing a landslide. 

It took him a full day to dig to the main road with a farm excavator. He found windy roads strewn with downed power lines, fallen limbs, thick mud and debris. In some areas, cars were washed into ditches. One neighbor found a dead body near a riverbank, he said.

No one had cell service or power. People couldn’t find out whether their relatives were alive or dead. Waters knew he had a huge recovery ahead of himself. But his family had survived. So, like others in the area, he first grabbed his chainsaw to help clear roads and check on neighbors.

“The whole side of the mountain came down,” he said. “Then it filled up the valley with mud.” Read more here.

− Chris Kenning

North Carolina town bands together: ‘That’s what we do’

Dale Buckner, CEO of Global Guardian, said his international security firm has supported and evacuated over 400 people from disaster areas across the Southeast. Some of the rescues required helicopters and even thermal drones, he said.

“While we’ve seen the highest demand from clients in the North Carolina region, we are actively conducting wellness checks and delivering food and water supplies along the storm’s path,” he said. “The devastation… and its impact will be felt for months to come.”

The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is assessing damage and will remain temporarily closed because of “significant flooding, impassable roads and widespread power outages in our region,” according to a statement on the social media account for the historic house and museum. Museum officials were asking people to check biltmore.com/weather-update for the latest. As of Sunday, a message on the website said officials were “working to reopen” but provided no timeline.

George Vanderbilt’s 250-room French Renaissance château, which took six years to build in the late 19th century, was the “largest undertaking in residential architecture in the nation,” according to the estate website. The home contains more than four acres of floor space, 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces. Read more here.

− Juan Buitrago, Asheville Citizen Times

CEDAR KEY, Fla. − The innkeeper wonders whether it’s worth rebuilding this town dotted across a small archipelago − again. The clam farmer worries about impact on his harvest. And the business leader contemplates what Mother Nature will throw at them next as the climate changes.

Tens of thousands of residents of Florida’s Big Bend region are confronting the same fears in the wake of Hurricane Helene. And those feelings are increasingly shared by coastal residents from Alaska to California and Maine as stronger, more frequent storms and rising ocean levels upend their lives and livelihoods. Many insurers already have curtailed coverage or withdrawn entirely from some areas, indicating the long-term risk.

“Natural disasters are natural disasters,” said innkeeeper Ian Maki, who has lived through five hurricanes since moving to the island community southwest of Gainesville in 2018. “But these don’t feel natural anymore.” Read more here.

− Trevor Hughes

Hurricanes on repeat: Natural disasters ‘don’t feel natural anymore’

People waited outside the emergency room at HCA Healthcare’s Mission Hospital in Asheville, checking the conditions of relatives who had been admitted. Shawn Hensley, 47, of Black Mountain, told the Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, his 65-year-old mother arrived at the hospital the night before because she was running low on oxygen. Hensley and neighbors had to chainsaw a tree blocking his car so he could get out of his neighborhood.

“It looks like Mother Nature just stomped all over that little town,” Hensley said. “It’s just destruction everywhere you look.”

President Joe Biden plans to visit the areas ravaged by Helene this week, once he can do so without disrupting emergency services, the White House said.

“It’s tragic,” Biden told reporters on Sunday, pledging recovery assistance after declaring major disasters in Florida and North Carolina and emergencies for Florida, North Carolina Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Alabama. “You saw the photographs. It’s stunning.”

Trump will visit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to receive a briefing on storm damage and “facilitate the distribution of relief supplies,” his campaign said.

The National Hurricane Center is tracking five systems in the Atlantic basin. The biggest concern to Florida and the U.S. is a disturbance in the Caribbean Sea, which could become a tropical depression later this week as it follows a path similar to major Hurricane Helene. Forecasters are advising residents along the Gulf Coast to closely monitor the system. Another system, Tropical Storm Kirk, was expected to become a “large and powerful” system later this week, the hurricane center said. Current models show it curving north into the middle of the Atlantic, well away from the U.S. Read more here.

Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida

As authorities assess Helene’s destruction along a large portion of the country, rescuers and other emergency workers have been deployed to hard-hit and isolated communities. Relief efforts and funds have also been created to help victims and survivors.

Federal officials have advised against sending unsolicited donated goods or heading toward disaster-affected areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency noted there are no requests, at the moment, for donations other than money.

Here are some organizations that accept donations to help those impacted by the storm:

  • American Red Cross: Red Cross volunteers from Florida to Tennessee are helping communities by providing food, disaster supplies, shelter, and additional assistance. The organization is taking donations to fund relief efforts.
  • The Salvation Army: The organization has deployed teams to provide emergency aid, food, and long-term recovery services for survivors and rescue workers. To contribute to its efforts, visit its Hurricane Helene relief donation page here.
  • GoFundMe: GoFundMe has set up a dedicated hub with verified fundraisers for people and communities affected by the storm’s devastation. The company also has its own Hurricane Relief Fund, which provides cash grants to those who need help.
  • Americares: The nonprofit focuses on emergency medical relief and has set up a donation page to help communities recover from Helene.
  • All Hands and Hearts: The volunteer-based organization assists in short-term and long-term disaster recovery efforts and has launched a Helene fund to help with its 12-month response.

Contributing: Jacob Biba, Will Hofmann and Iris Seaton, Asheville Citizen Times; Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Reuters

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