Helene Now Responsible for at Least 130 Deaths

The death toll continues to mount in the Southeast as the impacts of Hurricane Helene become more clear. Here is the latest on this deadly and devastating storm.

Over 130 Deaths at the Hands of Hurricane Helene

There are now over 130 fatalities blamed on what was once a Category 4 hurricane. Deaths have been reported across six states. At least 56 people have been confirmed dead at the hands of Helene in North Carolina. South Carolina is reporting 30 fatalities, including two firefighters. There are 25 confirmed deaths in Georgia and 11 people dead in Florida. Tennessee is also reporting four deaths with Virginia coming in with two lives lost as the result of the storm and its lingering impacts.

After roaring onshore late Thursday as a major hurricane in Florida, Helene went on to dump historic amounts of rainfall in Georgia and up into the Carolinas. Western North Carolina was hit particularly hard with the torrential rainfall with the town of Asheville considered to be ground zero for the destruction.

Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder in North Carolina said that officials have received about 600 missing persons reports. However, some of these missing persons reports could simply be people having difficulties reaching loved ones due to the communication issues.

Asheville has been nearly cut off from the rest of the region as roadways remain flooded and littered with debris. Pinder assured residents that supplies are en route to Asheville despite the closures of hundreds of roadways.

As of Monday morning, there are still over 2 million customers without power. The most impacted states are Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. Over 4 million people were in the dark early Friday at the height of the storm.

The latest pictures and videos coming in from the site of the flooding demonstrates that Helene is likely to go down as one of the worst natural disasters for the U.S. in decades. The damage is harkening back to events associated with Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Katrina.