() – With no supplies, no electricity and no patience, people who watched the power of a massive storm upend their lives emerged into a new week, facing the daunting challenge of rebuilding. Some of the roads and bridges they need to get the job done are no longer there. Power could take a week or more to be restored. Emergency services are overloaded. And neighbors, some of whose own homes have disappeared, are helping their neighbors.
To the At least 95 people died in six states and authorities believe there could be more. So far, state and county officials said 36 people have died in North Carolina, 25 in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, four in Tennessee and two in Virginia. Many more remain missing, perhaps unable to leave their location or communicate with their families, where communications infrastructure is in ruins.
Hundreds of roads remain closed, especially in the Carolinas, making it difficult to deliver much-needed supplies. And more than 2 million customers remain without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us. Power companies are dealing with damaged and blocked roads as they work to restore power to homes and businesses.
President Joe Biden will visit some of the affected communities later this week, “as soon as he does not disrupt emergency response operations,” the White House said Sunday night. He will speak Monday morning at the White House about federal efforts underway to speed resources to where they are needed. The president approved disaster relief and has been in contact with governors where the damage was most severe.
Amid the cleanup efforts, one Buncombe County resident told he has no electricity, running water or cell phone reception.
Grabbing firewood in her hands, Meredith Keisler, a school nurse, said, “We are collecting firewood because we have a grill to make a fire and cook food,” she said.
Although Keisler says she considers herself lucky for the resources she has at home, she plans to work at a shelter to help others.
“The destruction is incredible. “It’s very sad,” he commented when asked about his surroundings.
About 20 miles east of Asheville, Krista Cortright said her boyfriend’s grandmother had no way to get out of Black Mountain because of the flooding. Cortright told the couple had to reach out to her because she had limited supplies and is diabetic.
It usually takes the couple 25 minutes to travel from Marion to Grandma’s house. This Sunday, due to road closures, it took 2.5 hours.
“Things are even more devastating in person,” Cortright said. “(Western North Carolina) is going to take a long time to recover, but I’m very grateful that we’re here and doing well. “I am heartbroken for our people here.”
Michael Callahan, president of utility operations for Duke Energy in South Carolina, said infrastructure repairs must precede power restoration efforts.
“The poles and cables that make up our transmission system suffered unprecedented damage,” Callahan said at a news conference.
Still, the utility expected to have service back to most of its customers in the state this Friday, he said.
“And with the exception of areas that are inaccessible or cannot receive service, that does not mean that there will be no electricity until this Friday,” he clarified.
As of Sunday night, about 760,000 homes and businesses were without power in South Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us.
In Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, more than 1.2 million customers were without power.
Authorities in Buncombe County, North Carolina, where at least 30 people have died, received about 600 missing person reports through an online form, county administrator Avril Pinder said Sunday.
Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate encouraged people not to lose hope.
Just because communications are down and loved ones can’t communicate “doesn’t necessarily mean the worst has happened,” he told on Sunday, adding that people will gather once cell phone reception is restored and Internet.
The state’s telecommunications partners activated the roaming of disasters on all networks, meaning that “any phone from any operator can access any network to make calls,” said state emergency management director William Ray.
“While we know we have lost lives, we typically see more people missing or not located due to communication issues,” Fugate said.
The governor addressed earlier reports that 1,000 people were missing.
Aerial video shows destruction after Hurricane Helene
“There have been around 1,000 calls. We don’t know the results of all those calls,” he said, adding that most people are probably safe but still don’t have phone or Internet service.
He added, however, that the official death toll could rise.
“We also know that there will be many deaths from this tragedy,” Cooper said. “We don’t know how many because search and rescue operations are still ongoing.”
The president will visit communities affected by the storm later this week, the White House said Sunday night.
Biden spoke this Sunday with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, as well as other officials from North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina.
The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, and the National Security Advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall, briefed him this Sunday on the recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene. Criswell visited Georgia this Sunday and plans to travel to North Carolina this Monday.
The White House said Biden oversaw recovery efforts during his visit to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, this weekend, after approving pre-hurricane emergency declarations for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama. He later issued statements for Tennessee and Virginia.
Former President Donald Trump this Sunday sent his condolences to those affected by Helene, which was the strongest hurricane on record to hit the Big Bend region of Florida.
“Before I begin, I would like to send my love and prayers to the families of those who have died – many dead – and to all who are displaced and suffering from the hurricane’s destruction in the south, especially in Florida, Georgia, Alabama , Tennessee and, in particular, Western North Carolina, which took a tremendous hit,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“It has been absolutely devastating and may God be with you all. It has been very hard, very hard. It was a huge hurricane and hit much harder than anyone would have thought possible. Therefore, we want to send our best wishes to all of you.”
The remnants of Helene continue to bring rain to parts of the mid-Atlantic. The heaviest rain is possible in parts of central Virginia and eastern West Virginia, where flood watches have been issued overnight and are expected to expire this Monday at 6 a.m. ET. According to According to the Weather Prediction Center, rainfall of 25 to 50 millimeters per hour and rainfall totals of 25 to 76 millimeters are possible.
An upper-level low pressure system will remain nearly stationary over eastern Kentucky on Monday, potentially bringing heavy rain to much of the region, including Virginia and West Virginia, the National Weather Service office in Baltimore said. Much of the area affected by Helene could experience rain this Monday. Most of the rain expected in the area is light, but any new rain is not a blessing for those trying to rebuild and clean up after Helene’s devastation.
About 90 gauges of rivers along the Helene Trail are still in some type of flood stage, and about 20 gauges are in moderate or major flood stage. It will take days for some river gauges to drop below flood stage, regardless of rainfall. Some river gauges located downstream of the heaviest rainfall will still peak later this week and even into the weekend.
Helene dumped “staggering” amounts of rain, including 30 to 40 centimeters in South Carolina, 304 to 406 millimeters in Florida and 304 to 355 millimeters in Georgia, said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service.
In many communities, including Asheville, North Carolina, one of the big problems is drinking water. One of the city’s water plants is out of service and many of the pipes used to bring water to customers are damaged, so Mayor Esther Manheimer must ask for patience.
“We don’t want people to assume this is going to happen quickly; We need to make sure people understand that this is something they need to plan for long term. They need to keep water for drinking, for toilets, for things like that. Don’t assume this is going to end anytime soon,” Manheimer told affiliate WLOS.
Michelle Coleman, executive director of the Asheville Dream Center, told she had never seen her community like this before.
“This is the most devastating thing I’ve seen in our entire city,” he said.
Coleman described how groups have been mobilizing to deliver water, diapers and other essential items to community members, including delivering supplies to a family with a five-day-old baby.
“Our prayer is that people do not lose hope because our community is coming together. “Asheville is a strong community,” Coleman said.
Gary O’Dell, a disabled Vietnam War veteran, said he has been sharing his oxygen tank with a neighbor.
“My next-door neighbor ran out of oxygen. “He is in worse condition than me,” he said. “That’s my problem. Now I also have lung cancer. “You don’t realize that oxygen is very important.”
–Robert Shackelford, Sarah Dewberry, Rafael Romo, Jade Gordon, Ashley R. Williams, DJ Judd, Sunlen Serfaty, Lauren Mascarenhas, Eric Levenson, Isabel Rosales, Taylor Galgano, Sara Smart, Conor Powell, Caroll Alvarado, Caroline Jaime, Emma Tucker , Artemis Moshtaghian, Paradise Afshar and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
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