At least 44 people have died and millions of Americans are without electricity after the passage of Hurricane Helene, which caused massive flooding in the southeast of the United States, where the storm continues on Friday gradually weakening.
From Tallahassee, Florida to Charlotte, North Carolina, strong winds and heavy rains caused flash flooding, falling trees and blowing away homes.
On the Florida coast, marine submersion has caused significant flooding, with sea levels rising up to six meters in places, according to the state governor.
At least 20 people died in South Carolina, 15 in Georgia, seven in Florida, one in North Carolina and one in Virginia, according to a report compiled by AFP from statements by local authorities.
And more than four million homes were without electricity Friday evening, according to the poweroutage.us website.
Even though winds have dropped to 55 km/h, the US Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that “historic” and “catastrophic” flooding, accompanied by landslides, would continue in the Appalachian Mountains until Friday evening.
Hélène made landfall in northwest Florida on Thursday evening as a category 4 hurricane on a scale of 5, with winds blowing at 225 km/h. It was the most powerful hurricane to ever hit this region, according to expert Michael Lowry.
“It was really scary at one point. I was wondering, is my house going to be blown away or not?” Larry Bailey Jr., in the small town of Perry, told AFP. Florida.
“We went to my sister’s room and said a prayer,” said the 32-year-old man, who had holed up with her and two nephews. “We are relieved and pray that another (hurricane) does not come, because there is still about a month left in the season.”
– “New normal?” –
In Steinhatchee, a small town on the west coast of Florida, Curtis Drafton, a former soldier, came to help.
This 48-year-old man also came to help during Hurricane Idalia last year.
“We didn’t expect to have to come back,” he told AFP. “Is this going to become the new normal? Is this going to happen every year? We talk about once-in-a-lifetime storms, but we had one like this last year …”
According to state Governor Ron DeSantis, who traveled along the coast by helicopter, Hurricane Helene was “much worse than Idalia.” “If you look at Keaton Beach, I think almost every house was destroyed,” he described Friday.
By warming ocean waters, climate change makes the rapid intensification of these storms more likely and increases the risk of more powerful hurricanes.
After forming, Helen moved over particularly warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico — more than 30°C, according to climatologist Andra Garner. “It is likely that these very warm waters played a role in the rapid intensification of Hélène,” underlined the expert.
“We also know that the phenomenon of marine flooding linked to hurricanes is getting worse, because ocean levels are rising as we warm the planet,” she told AFP.
– Rescues –
Many of the deaths are linked to trees falling on homes.
In Georgia, one of the people who died was part of a rescue team, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said Friday. Two firefighters also died in South Carolina, said the governor of that state.
“We have made almost 600 rescues,” Deanne Criswell, head of the federal agency responsible for responding to natural disasters (Fema), said Friday morning on CNN.
“The threat is not over” and the situation “is still dangerous,” she added, highlighting the risk of flash flooding, particularly in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia.
Vice-president and Democratic candidate for the White House Kamala Harris assured Friday evening that she continued to “monitor the situation closely” with President Joe Biden, adding that the administration had mobilized 1,500 people to help people affected.
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