At least 30 people have died in just one North Carolina county after a weekend of historic flooding from Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern states.
Helene made landfall on Thursday night as a Category 4 storm, striking Florida’s Big Bend region and moving north through the American south. The death toll across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia rose to 91 by Sunday evening, the Associated Press reported.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he expected the death toll in the Tar Heel State to continue rising in the foreseeable future. “Tragically, we know there will be more,” Cooper said at a press conference earlier on Sunday.
Heavy rains inundated Buncombe County in the Appalachian Mountains with floodwaters over the weekend.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty
The majority of North Carolina’s deaths have been reported in and around the state’s western city of Asheville. Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller confirmed at least 30 people in the county died as a result of the storm, and Buncombe County Manager Avril Pender told reporters on Sunday that the county is still conducting search and rescue operations for missing persons.
Sheriff Miller told reporters the 30 deaths in the region were spread out “throughout Buncombe County.”
“We know that we have areas in Fairview, Black Mountain, Swannanoa, and Barnardsville where the devastation is unthinkable,” Pender said in a press briefing. “Those communities no longer resemble what they were a week ago, and our loved ones are still trapped.”
Trucks lie scattered in the parking lot of a North Carolina Lowe’s after Hurricane Helene.
Marco Bello/Reuters
The County manager also said that residents of Asheville and its surrounding towns were struggling to find food and fresh water. The city’s water system suffered significant damage that will require “extensive repairs” to the city’s “treatment facilities, underground and aboveground water pipes, and to roads that have washed away which are preventing water personnel from accessing parts of the system,” the city government announced.
The city remains under a boil water advisory for residents who still have functioning running water.
“We hear you,” Pender told Buncombe County residents. “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.”
The remains of a Walgreens in Asheville captured by a drone on Sunday morning.
Marco Bello/Reuters
Pender said that authorities were working to set up food and water distribution sites across Buncombe County, and the county would announce the locations later on Sunday.
The area is still under a state of emergency, which authorities said would continue until further notice. Pender told Buncombe County residents that there was a remaining danger of more landslides, and warned residents who still haven’t evacuated to seek shelter.
Over 98,000 customers in Buncombe County were still out of power by Sunday night, according to online tracker poweroutage.us. Cell service in western North Carolina was also disrupted, and Pender told reporters the city of Asheville will set up a “temporary satellite cell tower” with the help of Verizon to provide temporary reception to the struggling city.
The White House said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell visited Florida over the weekend to assess damage to the state where Helene made landfall on Thursday evening. She also visited parts of Georgia and will continue on to North Carolina on Monday, the White House said, in order to “determine what more can be done to accelerate support to those who need it most in isolated communities.”
President Joe Biden told reporters on Sunday he would visit areas affected by Helene as soon as possible without disrupting rescue operations.
