According to CNN’s count, the number of deaths caused by Hurricane Helene has increased to at least 227 in six states after two additional deaths were reported on Saturday in South Carolina.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which claimed the lives of at least 1,833 people, Helene is the second most deadly hurricane to hit the continental United States in the last fifty years.
Seven more deaths in North Carolina were reported by officials early on Saturday.
Hurricane Helene tore up and washed away roads and bridges, so a large relief operation is underway throughout the ravaged region to restore electricity, reconstruct damaged water and cell infrastructure, and transport supplies to places cut off from road access.
Searches for those who have gone missing resumed on Saturday.
As of Saturday, these are the state-by-state deaths from Hurricane Helene:
- North Carolina: 113 individuals
- 48 individuals in South Carolina
- 33 individuals in Georgia
- Florida: 20 individuals
- Tennessee: Eleven individuals
- Virginia: two individuals
What is known about ongoing attempts to recover following Helene is as follows:
Blue Ridge Parkway stays closed: The National Park Service reports that as workers continue to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, the 400-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through North Carolina and Virginia, will remain closed with no specified reopening date. According to CNN park service spokesman Mike Litterst, teams have observed “significant, and in some cases catastrophic” damage along parts of the parkway. Litterst’s snapshots showed fallen trees and a washout in the road close to Gooch Gap. With 16.75 million visits, the parkway was ranked as the most popular NPS site in 2023, according to a recent CNN story.
US emergency personnel arrive in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina county: Several hundred emergency personnel from US agencies, including the New York Fire Department, are assisting North Carolina’s hard-hit Buncombe County. These personnel arrived on the scene by Saturday. During a press conference on Saturday, county spokesperson Lillian Govus stated, “You’ll see their (FDNY) trucks outside, but we have crews from across the country who are here, and that number is more than 1,300.” In North Carolina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed almost 3,000 federal responders, according to MaryAnn Tierney, the team director for FEMA’s National Incident Management Assistance program.
Over 500,000 consumers are still without electricity. According to poweroutage.us, little under 490,000 consumers across five states remain without energy almost a week after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast of the United States. As of Saturday afternoon, about 489,176 people in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia were waiting for their power to be restored. According to county manager Avril Pinder, over 74,000 individuals in Buncombe County were without electricity on Saturday.
A state-by-state breakdown of power outages:
- 158,929 in South Carolina
- 175,407 in North Carolina
- 3,456 in Florida
- Virginia: 4,791
- Georgia has 146,593 residents.
Sections of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville sustain severe damage: Helene affected sections of the biggest privately owned home in America and a well-liked tourist destination in Asheville; the Biltmore Estate reported that some low-lying areas of the estate had “significant flooding and damage to buildings.” The Biltmore stated that the vineyard, conservatory, and hotels on the estate, in addition to the 250-room mansion, “received minimal or no damage from the storm.” The estate stated, “The vast majority of our animals are safe and accounted for, but we sadly lost a few during the storm.” According to the Biltmore, wind damage to grounds and certain structures is severe in the wooded sections, which comprise “a large portion of the estate.” “Crews have been clearing roads nonstop, so we can begin repairs.”
