Historic, ‘once-in-a-generation’ Hurricane Helene unleashed catastrophic flooding, ferocious winds, and perilous conditions that extend hundreds of miles inland. As the stunning scope of widespread damage across Florida and Georgia becomes clear, extreme rain from Helene continued to unleash catastrophic flooding in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia throughout the weekend.

Helene’s death toll has passed 130, with deaths reported in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. At least 56 people are dead in North Carolina, according to county and state officials and 30 deaths have been reported in South Carolina, including two firefighters, authorities said. At least 25 people have died in Georgia with two killed by a tornado in Alamo, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp. In Florida, at least 11 people have died including several people who drowned in Pinellas County. Four deaths have been reported in Tennessee and two people have died in Virginia, officials said Sunday. In North Carolina, Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said officials have received about 600 missing persons reports through an online form.Supplies are being airlifted to the region around the isolated city of Asheville Pinder said, telling The Associated Press she would have food and water to the city by Monday.

“We hear you. We need food and we need water. My staff has been making every request possible to the state for support and we’ve been working with every single organization that has reached out. What I promise you is that we are very close.” AccuWeather warned the public and officials of the catastrophic risk to lives and property in the southern Appalachians on Sept. 24,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist John Porter, adding that the scale of this historic flooding disaster in the southern Appalachians cannot be understated.

“The majority of homes and businesses in some communities are destroyed and some have been washed away. Bridges, roadways and other expensive and critical infrastructure have been heavily damaged or destroyed. Pictures and video from the scene, as limited as those reports have been due to ongoing major communication infrastructure damage, suggest one of the worst flooding disasters in United States history, with tragically striking similarities in damage to other catastrophic floods such as flooding associated with Hurricane Katrina, the flooding from Hurricane Harvey and the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Floods of 1889 and 1977.” 

Read More Here