Helene's Death Toll Rises to 232 Over the Weekend

Alexis Thornton

Last week

The death toll attributed to Hurricane Helene inched up over the weekend, now sitting at a figure of at least 232 fatalities across six states. As Florida braces for the impacts of Hurricane Milton, here is the latest on the ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene.

Death Toll Blamed on Helene Rises Across the Southeast

More deaths were confirmed over the weekend in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. North Carolina officials said that they confirmed 11 additional deaths while South Carolina announced two more fatalities. One more death was reported in Tennessee.

This brings the total death toll by state to 117 people in North Carolina, 48 in South Carolina, 33 in Georgia, 20 in Florida, 12 in Tennessee, and two in Virginia. Officials warn that the death toll will continue to mount as search and recovery efforts continue in the battered region.

Over one week after the hurricane made landfall in Florida, there are still over 460,000 customers without power. The bulk of these outages are in the Carolinas with Georgia, Florida, and Virginia also reporting thousands of customers in the dark. The hardest hit area of Buncombe County, North Carolina still has over 74,000 people without power over the weekend.

The massive amount of rain that fell over the Carolinas has left hundreds of roads and bridges impassable. This has hampered the ability of crews to restore power.

The popular Blue Ridge Parkway passing through North Carolina and Virginia remains closed. According to the National Park Service (NPS), crews are assessing the damage to the 400-mile long roadway. Significant damage has been reported on this roadway that hosted over 16 million travelers last year.

Parts of the country's largest privately owned mansion sustained damage in Asheville. The popular Biltmore Estate is confirming that the low-lying areas of the grounds were flooded. While the primary 250-room house and its adjacent winery escaped with minimal damage, other parts of the estate reported issues due to wind damage. Crews are working to clear the roads surrounding the estate so that the repair process can begin.