Governor Cooper says 11 people died as a result of Helene’s impacts

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Gov. Roy Cooper said Sunday that the death toll of 11 people in North Carolina from Hurricane Helene is expected to rise as rescuers and other emergency responders reach areas currently plagued by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and wide widespread flooding.

“This is an unprecedented tragedy that requires an unprecedented response,” Cooper said at a news conference Sunday. He added that “we know there will be more deaths” and urged residents to avoid driving on Western North Carolina roads not only to avoid danger, but also to clear the roads for emergency vehicles to keep free. More than 50 search teams are searching for stranded people across the region. “Many people are cut off because the roads are impassable,” he said.

The supplies were airlifted to the Asheville region, a city in the western mountains of North Carolina known for its art, culture and natural beauty. Rescue efforts included rescuing 41 people and a toddler in a mission north of Asheville. Teams found people through both 911 calls and social media messages, North Carolina Adjutant General Todd Hunt said. Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph (225 km/h). From there it moved quickly through Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that it “looked like a bomb went off” after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air. Weakened, Helene then flooded the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that pushed streams and rivers over their banks and strained dams. More than 60 people were killed. Several million people were without power on Sunday afternoon.

In Texas, Jessica Drye Turner begged for someone to rescue her family members who were stranded on their roof in Asheville, surrounded by rising floodwaters. “They are watching 18-wheelers and cars go by,” Turner wrote in an urgent Facebook post Friday. But in a follow-up message shared widely on social media Saturday, Turner said help did not arrive in time to save her parents, both in their 70s, and her six-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and the three drowned. “I cannot express in words the sadness, heartache and devastation my sisters and I are going through, nor can I imagine the pain that lies ahead,” she wrote. Western North Carolina was isolated due to landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. There have been hundreds of water rescues, none more dramatic than in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from the roof of a hospital on Friday. The storm was expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley on Saturday and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

It triggered the worst flooding in North Carolina in a century. One community, Spruce Pine, was flooded with more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rain Tuesday through Saturday. The death toll in Buncombe County stands at 10, and Sheriff Quintin Miller indicated at a media briefing Sunday morning that the number is likely to rise. He said authorities were having difficulty notifying the families of the dead because of a lack of telephones, cell phones and internet. The state is sending water supplies and other goods to Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides on Interstate 40 and other blocked highways are preventing the supplies from getting there. The county’s own water supplies were located across the Swannanoa River, away from where most of Buncombe County’s 270,000 people live, officials said.

Because of reports of confrontations and threats of violence, law enforcement planned to send officers to locations where there was still water, food or gas, the sheriff said. “If you’ll be patient with us and be patient for another day – I hate to say this, but I know how desperate the water supply is in our community – but we’re doing everything we can to get them up the mountain “said Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder.

In Florida’s Big Bend, some lost almost everything they owned and emerged from the storm without a pair of shoes. With shrines still dark in a county where 97% of customers had no power Sunday morning, some churches canceled their regular services while others, such as Faith Baptist Church in Perry, opted to hold services outdoors. Standing water and tree debris still cover the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. In a message on the church’s Facebook page, the church asked parishioners to “pray for our community.” “We have power. We have no electricity,” said community member Marie Ruttinger. “Our God has power. That’s for sure.” Atlanta received 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain in 48 hours, the most the city has seen in two days since records began in 1878.

In Augusta, in eastern Georgia near the South Carolina border, officials told residents Sunday morning that water service in the city and surrounding Richmond County would be interrupted for 24 to 48 hours. A news release said trash and debris from the storm had “blocked our ability to pump water.” Officials distributed water bottles at the municipal building and said each household would receive a case. President Joe Biden said Saturday that Helene’s devastation was “overwhelming” and vowed to send help. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina and made federal funding available for affected individuals. Dozens of supply teams from New England states also headed south to help with the recovery. Federal funding will be critical to rebuilding local communities, Sen. Marco Rubio said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “There are some coastal areas, some of which are already facing the third storm in the last 12 months,” Rubio said.

With at least 25 deaths in South Carolina, Helene is the deadliest tropical cyclone for the state since Hurricane Hugo killed 35 people when it came ashore north of Charleston in 1989. Deaths have also been reported in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Moody’s Analytics expects property damage to range from $15 billion to $26 billion. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of Helene’s total damage and economic loss in the U.S. is between $95 billion and $110 billion. The 11 confirmed deaths in Florida included nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation zone on the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said. Climate change has exacerbated the conditions that allow such storms to thrive. They intensify quickly in the warmer waters, sometimes turning into strong cyclones within a few hours. Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average season this year due to record-warm ocean temperatures.

Associated Press reporters Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, and Haya Panjwani in Washington contributed. Collins contributed from Columbia, South Carolina.

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