CNN —
The death toll from Helen rose to at least 227 in six states after two more deaths were announced in South Carolina on Saturday, according to a CNN tally.
Helen is the second deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States in the past 50 years, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed at least 1,833 people.
Officials announced seven more deaths in North Carolina early Saturday.
Officials said they were working to restore power, rebuild damaged water and cell phone infrastructure and provide supplies to areas cut off from road access after Helen tore up roads and bridges. Massive relief efforts are continuing across the devastated region.
Meanwhile, the search for the missing person continued on Saturday.
The number of deaths due to Helen by state as of Saturday is as follows:
North Carolina: 113 people South Carolina: 48 people Georgia: 33 people Florida: 20 people Tennessee: 11 people Virginia: 2 people
Here’s what we know about Helen’s continued recovery efforts since then.
Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed: The 400-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, which spans North Carolina and Virginia, remains closed with no reopening date set as crews continue to assess Helene damage. The National Park Service announced that Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst told CNN that teams are reporting “significant and in some cases catastrophic” damage along portions of the parkway. Photos shared by Litterst revealed fallen trees and washed out roads near Gooch Gap. Parkway is listed as the most-visited NPS site in 2023, with 16.75 million visitors, according to CNN’s previous reporting.
Emergency responders from across the country respond to hurricane-ravaged North Carolina counties: Hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, received a response from hundreds of emergency responders from agencies across the country, including New York Fire, who were on the scene by Saturday. I’m getting support. Department. “You can see the (FDNY) trucks outside, but we have crews here from all over the country, over 1,300 people,” county spokeswoman Lillian Gorbus said at a news conference Saturday. Ta. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has more than 3,000 federal responders on the ground in North Carolina, said Mary Ann Tierney, FEMA’s National Incident Management Support Team Leader.
More than 500,000 customers remain without power: More than a week after Helen’s rampage across the southeastern United States, more than 500,000 customers in five states remain without power, according to poweroutage.us. are. As of Saturday afternoon, approximately 562,007 customers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia were waiting for power to be restored. More than 74,000 people were without power in Buncombe County on Saturday, County Commissioner Avril Pinder said.
Breakdown of power outages by state:
South Carolina: 183,231 North Carolina: 216,128 Florida: 8,518 Virginia: 5,414 Georgia: 151,636
Parts of Asheville’s Biltmore Estate Receive Significant Damage: The area of America’s largest private mansion and popular Asheville tourist attraction was affected by Helen, causing “significant flooding and flooding” in low-lying areas of the Biltmore Estate. “Damage to the building occurred,” he said. The 250-room mansion, as well as the on-site winery, greenhouse and hotel, “suffered minimal or no damage from the storm,” according to the Biltmore. “Sadly, we lost a few animals to the storm, but the majority are safe and protected,” the facility said. “Wind damage has affected the property and some buildings in the wooded area that makes up the majority of the property,” Biltmore said. “Crews are working vigorously to clear the road so repairs can begin.”
‘Many whole families lost their lives,’ say Black Mountain community members. Community members in Black Mountain, North Carolina, hit hard by Helen, are working together to protect their neighborhoods and hard-to-reach areas. sending supplies to. Nathan West, a member of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, told CNN that his congregation is expanding into remote communities and further into the mountains to provide water, water filtration systems and food to people. “It was really about local people,” West told CNN. “The day after the hurricane, we were working and deploying supplies…Local first responders were out in force.” He became emotional when asked about the rising death toll from the storm. Western countries said it was difficult to talk. “So many children have been lost, so many parents have been lost, so many entire families have been lost. And to have to see the people you know and see the aftermath is pretty difficult on top of everything else. “It was,” he said.
