At least 63 people have died and more than 2.6 million people in 10 states are without power as Helen leaves a trail of destruction.
People in five states in the southeastern United States are stranded without shelter and awaiting rescue after devastating Hurricane Helen, which killed at least 63 people and caused widespread power outages.
As of early Sunday, more than 2.6 million customers remained without power in 10 states from Florida in the southeast to Indiana in the Midwest, according to the tracker poweroutage.us.
The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of “extended power outages” and said conditions “continue to improve Sunday.”
Helen slammed into Florida on Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane, barreling northward and gradually weakening, but leaving behind a trail of destruction, including uprooted trees, downed power lines and homes damaged by mudslides. left behind.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Saturday declared a state of emergency in six states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee, “to support these states’ preparedness and response efforts in the immediate aftermath of the storm.” ” announced. ”.
Search and rescue teams have completed at least 600 rescues, FEMA said, adding that more than 3,200 personnel were deployed.
At least 24 people have died in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, 10 in North Carolina and one in Virginia, according to local authorities and media tallied by AFP news agency.
The remnants of the storm, now classified as a “post-tropical cyclone,” are expected to continue flooding the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians through Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
In affected communities on the East Coast and Midwest, storm victims and volunteers armed with trash bags, mops and hammers worked to repair what they could and clean up what was left.
“There are only a few shops open. There is limited supply. So I’m worried about families with children and others having somewhere to stay and something to eat. ” Stephen Mauro, a resident of Valdosta, Georgia, told AFP.
President Joe Biden called Helen’s plight “overwhelming” in a statement Saturday.
“It breaks my heart.”
Helen brought powerful winds of 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour) into the northern Gulf Coast of Florida. Although it weakened to a tropical cyclone, it still caused extensive damage.
Record flood levels threatened to cause several dams to fail, but Tennessee emergency officials said Saturday that the Nolichucky Dam, which was on the verge of failure, was no longer in danger of breaching and residents downstream could return home. did.
Major flooding was reported in Asheville in western North Carolina. Gov. Ray Cooper called it “one of the worst storms in modern history” to hit the state.
Remote towns in the Carolina mountains were without power or cell phone service, and there were reports of roads being washed away or buried by mudslides.
In Cedar Key, an island city of 700 people off Florida’s Gulf Coast, record high tides and fierce winds destroyed several pastel-colored wooden houses.
“I’ve lived here my whole life, and it breaks my heart to see it. We don’t really get a break,” Cedar Key employee Gabe Doty said in the past. He mentioned two other hurricanes that occurred in the past year.
In South Carolina, officials said the dead included two firefighters.
State officials said emergency workers were among the 17 people killed in Georgia.
In the Tennessee town of Irwin, more than 50 patients and staff had to be rescued by helicopter after being trapped on the roof of a hospital by rising floodwaters.
