Aftermath of Hurricane Helene: dozens of deaths and millions of people without electricity

PERRY, Fla. (AP) – Hurricane Helene caused at least 52 deaths and billions of dollars of destruction across a large swath of the southeastern United States as it hit, and more than 3 million customers began the weekend without power and some with a continued threat of flooding.

Helene blown to the ground in the Big Bend region of Florida, a Category 4 hurricane Thursday evening, with winds of 140 mph, then quickly spread across Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, shattering homes and sending streams and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

Western North Carolina has been virtually isolated due to landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. The video shows sections of Asheville underwater.

Francine Cavanaugh said she was completely unable to reach her sister, son or friends in the Asheville area.

“My sister came to see me yesterday morning to see how I was doing in Atlanta,” she said Saturday. “The storm had just hit her in Asheville, and she said it was really scary out there.”

Cavanaugh said his sister had no idea how serious the storm was. She told Cavanaugh she was going to go see guests at a vacation cabin “and that’s the last I heard from her.” I have texted everyone I know with no response. All phone calls go straight to voicemail.

She saw a video of a grocery store near the cabins that was completely flooded.

“I think people are completely stuck wherever they are without cell service or electricity.”

There have been hundreds of water rescues, none more dramatic than in rural Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from the roof of a hospital surrounded by the waters of a swollen river.

The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, is expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley Saturday and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. Multiple flood and flash flood warnings remained in effect across parts of the southern and central Appalachians, while high wind warnings also covered parts of Tennessee and Ohio.

At least 48 people were killed in the storm; among them were three firefighters, a woman and her one-month-old twins, and an 89-year-old woman whose house was hit by a falling tree. According to an Associated Press tally, the deaths occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

In Tampa’s wealthy Davis Islands enclave, home to star athletes like Derek Jeter and Tom Brady, residents continued to clean up the storm surge left by Helen on Saturday.

Neighborhoods just off downtown Tampa and home to about 5,000 residents have never experienced a storm surge like Friday’s. No one died, but homes, businesses and apartments were flooded.

“I don’t think anyone expected it,” Faith Pilafas told the Tampa Bay Times. “We’ve kind of gotten used to talking a lot about big storms, and we never really like to feel the effects of them. So for all the people who didn’t leave the island, I feel like they all expected it to be a normal storm, disappointing. And wow, were we surprised.

Record evacuations and precipitation

Authorities warned residents to evacuate, and many did, but some stayed put.

In North Carolina, a lake featured in the film “Dirty Dancing” passed a barrier and surrounding neighborhoods were evacuated, although there was no immediate fear that it would fail. People were also evacuated from Newport, Tennessee, a town of about 7,000, due to concerns about the presence of a nearby dam, although officials later said the structure would not had not given in.

Tornadoes hit some areas, including one in Nash County, North Carolina, that seriously injured four people.

Atlanta received a record 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain in 48 hours, the most the city has experienced in two days since record-keeping began in 1878, the Office of the Climatologist said. State of Georgia on social platform

Moody’s Analytics said it expects property damage of between $15 billion and $26 billion.

Climate change has exacerbated the conditions that allow such storms to develop, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and developing into powerful cyclones sometimes within hours.

Big Bend region hit hard

Big Bend, Florida, is a part of the state where salt marshes and pine forests stretch as far as the eye can see, and where the condominium complexes and shopping centers that have carved up much of the coastline of the State are largely absent.

It’s a place where Susan Sauls Hartway and her 4-year-old Chihuahua, Lucy, could afford to live just steps from the beach on her cleaning salary.

At least, until his house was taken away by Hélène.

On Friday afternoon, Hartway wandered his street near Ezell Beach, looking for where the storm might have dumped his house.

“Here we go. I don’t know where it is. I can’t find it,” she said of her house.

The community has been directly impacted by three hurricanes since August 2023.

The five people who died in a Florida county were in neighborhoods where residents were asked to evacuate, said Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff of Pinellas County, in the St. Petersburg area. Some who remained had to hide in their attics to escape the rising waters. He added that the death toll could rise as teams go door to door in flooded areas.

Other deaths were reported in Georgia and the Carolinas, including two South Carolina firefighters and a Georgia firefighter who died when trees hit their trucks. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin reported at least one death in his state.

Loss of power and damage to infrastructure

President Joe Biden said he was praying for survivors and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency visited the scene. The agency deployed more than 1,500 workers and assisted in 400 rescues Friday evening.

Authorities urged trapped people to call rescuers and not walk through floodwaters, warning that they can be dangerous because of live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.

In Georgia, an electric utility group warned of “catastrophic” damage to utility infrastructure, with more than 100 high-voltage transmission lines damaged. And officials in South Carolina, where more than 40% of customers were without power, said crews had to wade through debris just to determine what was still standing in some spots.

The hurricane has come ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 30 kilometers northwest of where Hurricane Idalia hits last year, with much the same ferocity. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the damage from Helene appears to be greater than the combined effects of Idalia and Hurricane Debby in August.

The destruction extended well beyond Florida.

Historic floods expected

A mudslide in the Appalachians washed out part of an interstate highway on the North Carolina-Tennessee border.

Another slide hit homes in North Carolina and occupants had to wait more than four hours for rescue, said Ryan Cole, deputy director of Buncombe County emergency services. Its 911 center received more than 3,300 calls in eight hours Friday.

“This is something we’re going to have to deal with for many days and weeks to come,” Cole said.

Forecasters have warned of flooding in North Carolina that could be worse than anything seen in the last century. The Connecticut National Guard sent a helicopter to help.

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

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Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Russ Bynum in Valdosta, Georgia; Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodríguez in Havana; Mark Stevenson and María Verza in Mexico; and Claire Rush of Portland, Oregon, contributed.