96 Dead by Hurricane Helene!
New York, Sep 29 (EFE).-
Hurricane Helene left at least 96 dead by late Sunday across several states of the southeastern United States, most of them in North Carolina, while the Government authorized a declaration of “major disaster” to expedite assistance efforts.
According to the latest official casualty toll, a total of 93 deaths in six states, with North Carolina accounting for 36 deaths, followed by South Carolina at 25, Georgia (17), Florida (11), Virginia and Tennessee (two each).
The number could rise further. Local broadcaster CBS has pegged the death toll at 105, with 30 deaths in Buncombe County, North Carolina, one of the hardest hit areas.
Helene made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane off Florida’s southeastern coast and made its way north, with torrential rains and hurricane winds causing much destruction.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said at a press conference Sunday that heavy rains in the state’s mountains caused landslides that destroyed roads, knocked down electric poles and telecommunications towers.
Some 280 state roads remain closed, making emergency and relief work difficult; the authorities are providing resources, food and water to affected people trapped by air, and there are about 1,000 people in shelters, Cooper said.
The governor called Helene one of the worst storms in modern history of the state and anticipated more victims, as there were numerous reports of missing people.
A similar scenario panned out in Unicoi County, east of Tennessee, where authorities are searching for more than 70 missing people, authorities said at a news conference Sunday.
Some 2.4 million people were without power in the five most affected southeastern states, and another 130,000 in the five neighboring states in the north where the hurricane weakened.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coordinating hundreds of troops in rescue and recovery efforts, and its administrator, Deanne Criswell, said on social media X that some communities hit by Helene were still suffering the ravages of Hurricane Idalia (2023). EFE
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