South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Tuesday that the remnants of Hurricane Helene killed 36 people in the state, bringing the number of deaths to 152. meteor fatalities.
McMaster announced the deaths of three more people at a news conference in West Columbia, South Carolina.
The storm carved a path of death and destruction across the southeastern United States after making landfall Thursday in Florida. Nearly half of the deaths occurred in North Carolina, while dozens more occurred in South Carolina and Georgia.
Cadaver dogs and search teams picked their way through knee-deep mud and debris in the mountains of western North Carolina on Tuesday, searching for victims of Hurricane Helene, days after the storm erupted causing death and destruction in the southeastern United States.
The death toll in Helene rose to 150, and searchers were exploring the region, using helicopters to fly over washed-out bridges and walking through vegetation to reach the most isolated homes.
Many of the people who lived through what was one of the deadliest storms in American history were left without power and without ways to call for help. Some of them cooked food on charcoal grills or walked to highlands in the hope of finding a signal to call their loved ones.
The devastation was especially severe in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where at least 50 people died in and around Asheville, a tourist hotspot known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.
Just outside the city, in the small community of Swannanoa, receding waters revealed cars piled on top of each other and mobile homes drifting during the storm. The roads were covered in mud and debris, and marked with potholes.
“Several communities were wiped off the map,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday.
President Joe Biden will review the devastation in the region on Wednesday.
More than 150,000 households have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help, and the number is expected to grow rapidly in the coming days, said agency representative Frank Matranga.
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