Helen’s death toll now rises to at least 166 as Biden plans to visit ravaged Carolinas

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden will survey the damage in North and South Carolina on Wednesday as rescuers continue their search for anyone still missing after Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage in the southeast and killed at least 166 people.

Many residents in both states were still without running water, cell service and electricity as floodwaters receded and revealed more death and destruction left in Helen’s path.

“We need to get this stimulus process going again,” Biden said Tuesday, estimating it will cost billions. “People are scared to death. It’s urgent.

While Biden is in the Carolinas, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in neighboring Georgia.

Helene, one of the deadliest storms in recent U.S. history, knocked out power and cell service for millions of people. More than 1.2 million customers were still in the dark early Wednesday in the Carolinas and Georgia. Some residents were cooking food on charcoal grills or walking on high ground hoping to find a signal to let loved ones know they are alive.

Cadaver dogs and search teams trudged through knee-deep mud and debris in the mountains of western North Carolina on Tuesday looking for more victims. At least 57 people have been killed in Buncombe County alone, home to the city of Asheville, a tourist haven known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.

In North Carolina, aid and personnel are streaming into storm-stricken Asheville.

In Swannanoa, a small community outside Asheville, receding floodwaters revealed cars stacked on top of each other and trailers that had blown away during the storm. The roads were covered in mud and debris and riddled with sinkholes.

Cliff Stewart survived two feet of water pouring into his home, knocking the wheels off his wheelchair and sending his medicine bottles floating from room to room. Left without power and dependent on food deliveries from friends, he refused offers of help to leave.

“Where am I going to go?” said the Marine Corps veteran. “That’s all I have. I just don’t want to give it up, because what am I going to do? Being homeless? I would rather die here than live homeless.

“Communities have been wiped off the map,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference.

Across the border in eastern Tennessee, a caravan including Gov. Bill Lee surveying the damage outside the town of Erwin led a team pulling two bodies from the wreckage, a grim reminder that rescue and recovery operations are still ongoing and the death toll is still ongoing. is likely to increase.

In Augusta, Georgia, Sherry Brown converted energy from her car’s alternator to run her refrigerator. She takes “bird baths” with water collected in coolers. In another part of the city, people queued for more than three hours to get water at one of five centers set up to serve more than 200,000 people.

What are we doing to help?

Exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded by the storm, which killed at least 166 people in six states, many were hit by falling trees or stuck in flooded cars. houses. Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, while dozens more were in South Carolina and Georgia.

More than 150,000 households have registered for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to rise quickly in the coming days, said Frank Matranga, an agency representative.

Nearly 2 million ready-to-eat meals and more than 1 million liters of water have been sent to the hardest-hit areas, it said.

Neighbors help each other after Hurricane Helene damages Virginia communities

The storm triggered the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina, dumping more than 24 inches of rain in places.

The Cooper administration said Tuesday that more than two dozen water treatment plants remain closed. Active-duty U.S. military units may be needed to contribute to the long-term recovery, he said, adding that Biden had given “the green light” to mobilize military assets soon.

A section of one of the region’s main arteries, Interstate 40, reopened Tuesday after a mudslide was cleared, but a collapsed stretch near the North Carolina-Tennessee border remained farm.

How some of the hardest hit areas are coping

Residents and business owners wore masks and gloves while cleaning up debris Tuesday in Hot Springs, North Carolina, where nearly every building along the small town’s Main Street was heavily damaged.

Sarah Calloway, owner of gourmet and delicatessen Vaste Riviere Provisions, said the storm arrived in the city with frightening speed. The day before, she helped fill the sandbags, but they proved useless. The water rose so quickly that even though she and others were in an apartment on a higher floor, she feared they would not be safe. They called to request a rescue from a white water team.

“They tried to reach us, but at that time they couldn’t,” she said. “Luckily, that’s when the water started to recede.”

“It was really hard to see how fast the mountain was rising and then see entire buildings floating down the river. It’s something I can’t even describe,” she said.

Virginia emergency crews made more than 70 rescues following Helene flooding

At the Black Mountain Mobile Home Park in Swannanoa on Tuesday, Carina Ramos and Ezekiel Bianchi were overwhelmed by the damage. The couple, their children and their dog fled Friday in the predawn darkness as rapidly rising waters from the Swannanoa River began to flood the lower part of the park.

By then, trees were blocking the roads and the couple abandoned their three vehicles, all of which were flooded.

“We left everything because we were panicking,” Ramos said.

Their children lived with Ramos’ parents and didn’t even want to see the caravan devastated.

“My daughter was crying, panicking,” Ramos said. “She says she doesn’t want to see her room full of toys, all thrown everywhere.”

Mobile service down

Widespread damage and outages affecting communications infrastructure have left many people without stable access to the Internet and cellular services.

Mayor Zeb Smathers of Canton, North Carolina, expressed frustration Tuesday that so many of his constituents were still without cell service and had no clear timetable for when it would be restored.

“People are walking the streets of Canton with their phones in the air, trying to pick up a cell phone signal like it’s a butterfly,” he told the Associated Press. “Every aspect of this response has been extremely hamstrung by the lack of cellphone communication. The one time we absolutely needed our cell phones to work, they broke.

Verizon crews were working to repair downed cell towers, damaged fiber optic cables and provide alternative forms of connectivity throughout the region, the company said in a statement.

AT&T, meanwhile, said it launched “one of the largest mobilizations of our disaster recovery assets for emergency connectivity support.”

Efforts to restore service have been made more difficult by the region’s terrain and dispersed population, said David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the Borderless Broadband Association.

Destruction from Florida to Virginia

Helene blasted into Florida Thursday evening as a Category 4 hurricane and upended life across the Southeast, where deaths were also reported in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.

Across Georgia, Helen’s path knocked out power and shattered lives from Valdosta to Augusta, where a line of cars waiting for water Tuesday stretched at least 0.5 miles down the road .

“It’s been tough,” said Kristie Nelson, who didn’t know when her power would be restored. “I’m dying to have a hot shower.”

With at least 36 deaths in South Carolina, Helene surpassed the 35 people killed in the state after Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989.

When Tennessee Governor Lee visited the eastern part of the state on Tuesday to assess the damage, residents said the governor and his entourage were the first aid they had received since the start of the storm.

“Where was everyone?” asked one frustrated resident. “We were alone here.”
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Kruesi reported from Hampton, Tennessee. Associated Press journalists Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh contributed to this report; Jeffrey Collins in Augusta, Georgia; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Rebecca Santana in New Orleans; Shawn Chen in New York; Colleen Long in Washington and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.