Death toll from Hurricane Helene rises to 100 in US with rescues continuing
Severe damage in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee as Trump, Harris set to visit region.
The death toll following Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States has reached at least 100, according to officials, as rescue efforts are ongoing.
US President Joe Biden characterized the storm's impact as “stunning.” In a statement to reporters on Monday, he promised that his administration would “continue to surge resources, including food, water, communications and life-saving equipment.”
“We will be there with you as long as it takes,” Biden added, noting that he might need to request a supplemental funding package from Congress to aid in the response.
Additionally, Biden announced plans to visit North Carolina, one of the states most affected, later this week.
Rescue, recovery, and cleanup operations are also underway in severely impacted areas of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The most significant damage resulted from flooding and heavy rains, which destroyed roads and infrastructure throughout the region.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Thursday as a Category Four hurricane, with winds reaching 225 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour). Although it weakened as it moved inland, it left a trail of destruction spanning over 804 kilometers (500 miles).
According to local authorities, at least 39 fatalities occurred in North Carolina, 25 in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 14 in Florida, four in Tennessee, and one in Virginia. The overall death toll is anticipated to rise.
Buncombe County in North Carolina reported at least 30 deaths, as stated by the local sheriff on Sunday. This county, which includes the severely affected city of Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains, experienced particularly intense flooding. Search operations were still ongoing on Monday.
As of Monday, nearly two million households and businesses remained without power, according to poweroutage.us.
Climate change experts have cautioned that rising sea temperatures are contributing to increasingly powerful storms in the Atlantic, although August and September had been relatively quiet.
