Search and rescue teams, which have already rescued hundreds of people, were scouring the mountains of western North Carolina for more survivors Tuesday after Hurricane Helene left damaged roads, broken bridges and downed power lines. Working between.
The storm has killed at least 162 people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, CNN reported, citing state and local officials, and that rescue teams were reaching isolated cities and telecommunications were being disrupted. The death toll is expected to increase after restoration. ,
The death toll rose after North Carolina’s Buncombe County reported 57 deaths on Tuesday, up from 40 a day earlier.
The mountainous region, including the county seat of Asheville, bore the brunt of the storm, which U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said was of “historic magnitude.”
Mayorkas told reporters at the White House that the recovery would involve a “billion-dollar undertaking” lasting several years.
President Joe Biden vowed to “accelerate this recovery process” after speaking to governors and other leaders in affected areas.
“People are scared to death. People wonder if they’re going to make it. We still haven’t heard from a lot of people. It’s urgent,” Biden said.
Hundreds of people have been reported missing, this number is expected to decrease as more telecommunications lines come back on line and emergency workers are able to reach remote areas.
The North Carolina National Guard has rescued more than 500 people, deploying helicopters to deliver supplies and rescue personnel, rescuing survivors and pets along the way, Maj. Gen. Todd Hunt told a separate press briefing.
Victims in McDowell County, North Carolina, included 58-year-old David Carver, who attempted to ride the water away from his home in Linville Falls, according to a friend who tried to save him.
While Carver was working with a shovel to stop the rain on Friday, half of his house was washed away in a landslide and he fell down the hill with the shovel.
His lifelong friend and neighbor Ken Fisher, 60, ran to help after Carver was swept into a drainage pipe, where he became entangled in trees and other debris.
Fisher poured water over Carver’s face to wash off the mud so he could open his eyes, told him his wife was safe and prayed with him.
“I told him I wasn’t going to let him die in there, I said ‘I’m going to get you out of there,'” Fischer recalled. He remained with Carver for 11 hours until emergency personnel were able to free him from the pipe.
Carver died in hospital at about 4 a.m. Saturday from injuries to internal organs.
5,000 year event
Some locations in western North Carolina may have experienced a 5,000-year-old event, so conditions were perfect to produce maximum rainfall, said Andrew Joyner, a Tennessee state climatologist.
A storm that preceded Helene had drawn moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and saturated areas like Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the Appalachian Mountains above hard-hit communities like Swannanoa and Black Mountain. Then Helen reached the summit at just the right angle, causing the rain to intensify.
“The event was an absolute whirlwind,” Joyner said.
Taylor Jones, director of Buncombe County Emergency Services, surveys damage in Swannanoa after Friday’s flooding, which burned several homes and large parts of a church.
“This is a true disaster,” Jones said, speaking to resident Ryan O’Keefe. “It’s not something that can be a quick fix. It’s not a sprint. It’s like two or three marathons.”
State Health Department Secretary Cody Kinsley said power outages in North Carolina have dropped to 420,000 from a peak of 1 million, while commercial power has returned to all but two hospitals in the west of the state. Access to public drinking water systems was rare.
All 1.5 million homes and businesses in six states from Florida to West Virginia were without power Tuesday morning, according to the website Poweroutage.us.