Short on supplies, power and patience, storm victims who saw the brutal force of Helene upend their lives have emerged to a new week, facing the daunting challenge of rebuilding.
Some of the roads and bridges they need to do the job aren’t there anymore. Electricity could be a week away or longer. Emergency services are stretched. Communications infrastructure is in shreds. And neighbors, some of whose own homes are gone, are helping neighbors – all the while worrying about the fate of those from whom they haven’t heard.
At least 102 people have died across six states since Helene, which made landfall in Florida as a mammoth Category 4 hurricane, tore through the Southeast and left millions without power and communications.
North Carolina suffered the highest death toll, at least 42 so far – a grim number that could rise as crews make their way to the hardest hit areas. The most recent fatalities include five deaths reported in Henderson County, along with the death of a sheriff’s deputy in Macon County who was swept away by the storm.
At least 25 storm victims also perished in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, four in Tennessee and two in Virginia. Hundreds have been reported missing, perhaps unable to leave their location or unable to contact family due to damaged communications infrastructure.
Helene’s path of destruction stretched more than 500 miles, from coastal Florida to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ravaged by the storm, the historic North Carolina mountain community of Asheville is now isolated as hundreds of roads in the Carolinas remain closed, hampering the delivery of badly-needed supplies — and making it difficult to get people out.
More than 2 million customers remain without power, according to PowerOutage.us. Power companies are dealing with damaged and blocked roads as they work to restore power to homes and businesses.
President Joe Biden will visit some of the affected communities later this week, “as soon as it will not disrupt emergency response operations,” the White House said Sunday evening. He will speak Monday morning at the White House about federal efforts underway to speed resources to where they are needed. The president approved disaster relief and has been in contact with the governors where the damage was most severe.
Amid cleanup efforts, a Buncombe County resident told CNN she has no power, running water or cell phone reception.
Clutching firewood in her hands, Meredith Keisler, a school nurse, said: “We’re collecting wood because we have a grill to make fire, to cook food,” she said.
While Keisler says she considers herself lucky with resources at her home, she plans to work at a shelter to help others.
“It’s incredible — the destruction. It’s really sad,” she noted when asked about her surroundings.
About 20 miles east of Asheville, Krista Cortright said her boyfriend’s grandmother had no way of getting out of Black Mountain due to flooding. Cortright told CNN the couple had to get to her since she had limited supplies and she is diabetic.
It typically takes the couple 25 minutes to travel from Marion to the grandmother’s house. On Sunday, due to road closures, it took them 2.5 hours.
“Things are even more devastating in person,” Cortright said. “(Western North Carolina) is going to take a very long time to recover, but I am so grateful that we are here and doing OK. My heart is broken for our people here.”
Michael Callahan, president of Duke Energy’s utility operations in South Carolina, said infrastructure repairs need to precede power restoration efforts.
As of Sunday night, about 760,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in South Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us.
In Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, more than 1.2 million customers were without power.
Officials in Buncombe County, North Carolina – where at least 30 people have died – have received about 600 missing persons reports through an online form, County Manager Avril Pinder said Sunday.
Former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate encouraged people not to lose hope.
