Death toll in Helene reaches 200 a week after landing; 1 million without power: live updates

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The death toll reached 200 Thursday as the need for power and water became more urgent for hundreds of thousands of residents in the Southeast, a week after Hurricane Helene began its deadly, devastating march through the region.

In Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, nearly a million homes and businesses remained without power. Tens of thousands of residents, most in western North Carolina, were left without running water. The Associated Press and CNN reported that the number of confirmed deaths across the region had reached 200.

Helene is now the fourth deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since 1950 and the deadliest since Katrina in 2005.

The situation remains dire in and around Asheville, a Buncombe County city of nearly 100,000 residents and a metropolitan area of ​​more than 400,000 in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Helene arrived here as a tropical storm, flooding the already sodden area with more than a foot of rain. Hundreds of houses and numerous streets were damaged or destroyed. In many neighborhoods there is neither electricity nor running water.

Buncombe County distributed prepared meals and bottled water with a daily limit of two meal packages per adult and one per child. Water for flushing toilets was available at a distribution point on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Nevertheless, life goes on. Brandon Mashburn was tired of sitting at home without power, water or internet, so he went to Malvern Hills Park on Wednesday. With the help of a hacksaw and some neighbors, he cleared away debris so the children had a safe place to play.

“It’s one of those things that communities came together and said, ‘If no one doesn’t do something about it, then we’re going to do it,'” Mashburn said.

Storm tracker: Watch the path of Hurricane Kirk as it continues to strengthen in the Atlantic

Developments:

∎ Duke Energy Florida officials said restoring power to Pinellas County’s barrier islands may not be complete until Sunday.

∎ President Joe Biden, who visited North and South Carolina on Wednesday, traveled to Florida and Georgia on Thursday.

Heartbreak in 6 States: Here are some who lost their lives in Hurricane Helene

Florida will soon bear the brunt of another storm

A storm brewing over the southern Gulf of Mexico will almost certainly bring more heavy rain and flooding to the Florida Peninsula next week, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. “Almost all indicators” suggest the storm will form and roll northeast across the Florida Peninsula by the middle of next week. Heavy rains are likely to flood Florida, particularly the central and southern parts of the peninsula, according to AccuWeather.

“While the exact path and intensity of the phenomenon unfolding in the Gulf remains to be determined, Florida will bear the brunt this time,” said Bernie Rayno, AccuWeather’s chief on-air meteorologist.

The deployment of the National Guard brings some members home

North Carolina National Guard members continued to bring urgently needed supplies to areas damaged and cut off by Helene on Wednesday. For some of them, the effort was a homecoming.

Chief Warrant Officer Marcus Wilkerson and his crew made a Black Hawk helicopter stop at his local church in the hard-hit area of ​​Fairview. His priest and parishioners greeted him with hugs as he and his crew unloaded supplies. As the children waved and took photos of the Black Hawk, Wilkerson said he was happy to personally deliver the supplies.

“It’s hard to see her like this,” he said, fighting back tears. “But they can do it.” Read more here.

− Kelly Puente

Ukrainian refugees among those missing in North Carolina

The last time Lysa Gindinova spoke to her aunt was the night of September 26, when Helene’s heavy rains and winds began to devastate western North Carolina. Gindinova told USA TODAY that her aunt joked: “She hopes her Titanic – in reference to her house – will hold up.”

Since the brief phone call, Gindinova has been unable to contact her aunt, uncle, cousin or grandmother – all of whom fled the Russian invasion of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in May 2022. The family was accepted into a U.S. humanitarian program and moved to the mountain suburb of Micaville to be near relatives. Gindinova, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, searched local Facebook groups for names of discovered residents. She also contacted rescue teams in the area hoping for good news.

“It was 24/7,” Gindinova said. “I’m just on the phone all the time. I cannot function normally. That’s all I think about.” Read more here.

− Christopher Cann

Double heartache: flood damage, insurance claim rejected

Kayla Ward was drinking coffee on her porch in Jonesborough, Tennessee, Friday afternoon when she noticed the water in the nearby Nolichucky River rising rapidly. She and her husband had to run to escape after Helene ran through the house with her pets and the clothes on her back, causing severe damage to the house. Ward, like many other homeowners affected by last week’s storm, did not have flood insurance and said her insurance company denied her husband’s claim.

It came as a surprise to Ward, 61, who previously worked as an insurance claims specialist for a full-service insurance agency in the neighboring town of Johnson City.

“We notice that everyone in our area feels the same way. No one is covered,” she told USA TODAY. And “we lost everything. Everything.” Read more here.

− Bailey Schultz

Lack of flood insurance: Double hit after the attack of Hurricane Helene

How did we get here?

Helene came ashore a week ago as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of about 140 miles per hour at Florida’s Big Bend, near the town of Perry. Those winds quickly died down, but the heavy rains inundated a 500-mile strip of the already saturated region.

Flash floods from streams and rivers merged with mudslides in the Appalachian Mountains, sweeping away scores of people, destroying homes and businesses, collapsing roads and devastating entire communities.

Miracle in the mud: Heroes, helping hands emerging from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene

In rural North Carolina, families disagreed about how to proceed

MEAT CAMP, N.C. — Carolyn and Clifford Coffee’s home is less than 10 miles from Boone, a North Carolina college town popular with tourists that sits between a stream and steep hillsides. The two-lane road along Meat Camp Creek is now littered with washed-out sidewalks and bridges, downed power lines and damaged homes.

Carolyn, 77, and Clifford, 80, have lived here for 40 years. Clifford built their house himself by connecting two trailers. But Hurricane Helene’s heavy rains, which caused deadly landslides and flooding, left Carolyn terrified.

“We just prayed to God,” she said, adding that while her husband wants to rebuild, “I want to move.” Read more here.

− Chris Kenning

“So many shouts”: The remote terrain of the Appalachian Mountains slows Helene’s recovery

Biden tells the hardest hit states: The USA stands behind you

Biden visited Greenville, South Carolina, on Wednesday and later took an aerial look at the extensive damage in Asheville. Vice President Kamala Harris also made a trip to a hard-hit state and met with local officials and first responders in Augusta, Georgia.

“I’m here to say that the United States — the nation — stands behind you,” Biden said at an emergency command center in Raleigh alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. “We’re not leaving until you’re back on your feet completely.”

Contributor: Dina Voyles Pulver

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Helene after live updates: 1 million still without power