The aftermath of Hurricane Helene: Deliveries go to remote communities as death toll rises

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Widespread devastation left behind Hurricane Helene came to light in the South on Monday, revealing a wasteland of splintered homes, smashed shipping containers and mud-covered highways in one of the worst storms in U.S. history. The death toll rose to 121.

There was a crisis in western North Carolina. Residents stuck because of washed-out roads and a lack of power and cell phone service lined up Monday to get fresh water and let their loved ones know they were alive.

At least 121 deaths in six southeastern states have been attributed to the storm – a number that rose 10% on Monday clearer picture emerged of the damage it caused in an area stretching from Florida’s Gulf Coast north to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the death toll would rise as rescue workers and other rescue workers continued to reach areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding. During a briefing on Monday, White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested that as many as 600 people had not been accounted for as of Monday afternoon and said some could be dead.

Government officials and aid organizations worked to airlift, truck and mule basic supplies to the most affected people Asheville Tourism Center and the surrounding mountain towns.

The destruction and despair were unimaginable. A flat shipping container sat on a bridge that crossed a river of muddy brown water. Overturned pontoon boats, splintered wooden boardwalks and tree trunks covered the surface of a picturesque lake between the mountains.

A woman cradled her child as people gathered around her on a hill where there was cell service. Many sent a simple text: “I’m fine.”

Several major roads into Asheville were washed away or blocked by mudslides, including Interstate 40, and the city’s water system was severely damaged, forcing residents to scoop stream water into buckets to flush toilets.

How some of the hardest hit areas are coping

In a neighborhood where a wall of water swept away all the trees and left a muddy mess, people shared food and water and comforted one another. “This has been the blessing so far,” Sommerville Johnston said in front of her home, which has been without power since Friday.

She planned to treat the neighborhood to venison stew from her unpowered freezer before it went bad. “Just bring your bowl and spoon,” she said.

Others waited in line for more than a block at Mountain Valley Water, a water vendor, to refill milk jugs and any other containers they could find.

Derek Farmer, who brought three-gallon apple juice containers, said he had been prepared for the storm but was now nervous after three days without water. “I just didn’t know how bad it was going to get,” Farmer said.

Officials warned that rebuilding would be long and difficult after widespread loss of homes and property. The storm Life across the Southeast was turned upside downwith deaths also reported in Florida and Virginia.

Video showed a mass of debris, including overturned pontoon boats and splintered wooden boardwalks, covering the surface of Lake Lure, a scenic spot nestled among the mountains outside Asheville.

Helene thundered ashore late Thursday in northern Florida A Category 4 hurricane, it moved quickly through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, bringing heavy rains that flooded waterways.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Monday that hundreds of roads in western North Carolina were closed and shelters were housing more than 1,000 people.

Cooper urged residents to avoid travel for their own safety and to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search parties spread across the entire region in search of stranded people.

I’m waiting for help and looking for a signal in North Carolina

Several dozen people gathered on a hill in Asheville where they found one of the city’s hottest assets – a cell phone signal.

“Is it day three or day four?” asked Colleen Burnet. “It was all a blur.”

The storm triggered the worst flooding in North Carolina in a century. Rainfall estimates since Wednesday were more than 24 inches (61 centimeters) in some areas.

President Joe Biden said Monday that the federal government will be with survivors and others affected by Helene in the southeast of the country “for as long as it takes.”

He expects to ask Congress for additional money for disaster relief and plans to travel to North Carolina later this week if his presence would not distract him from life-saving search and rescue operations.

Ten federal search and rescue teams were on the ground and another nine were en route while trucks and cargo planes arrived with food and water, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell surveyed the damage with North Carolina’s governor on Monday.

Volunteers also came. Mike Toberer decided to bring a dozen of his mules to bring food, water and diapers to the hard-to-reach mountain areas.

“We take our chainsaws and push these mules through,” he said, noting that each one can carry about 200 pounds (90 kilograms) and go 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h).

Why Western North Carolina was hit so hard

Western North Carolina suffered comparatively more devastation because Helene’s remnants there encountered the higher elevations and cooler air of the Appalachian Mountains, causing even more rain to fall.

Asheville and many surrounding mountain towns were built in valleys, making them particularly vulnerable to devastating rains and floods. In addition, the ground was already saturated before Helene arrived, said Christiaan Patterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

“When Helene came into the Carolinas, we already had this rain and more rain,” Patterson said.

Climate change has exacerbated conditions Allow such storms to thrivewhich intensifies quickly in warmer waters and sometimes turns into strong cyclones within hours.

Destruction from Florida to Virginia

Along Florida’s Gulf Coast, several feet of water flooded the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, forcing workers to transport two manatees and sea turtles. All of the animals were safe, but much of the aquarium’s vital equipment was damaged or destroyed, said James Powell, the aquarium’s executive director.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said the storm “literally spared no one.” Most people in and around Augusta, a city of about 200,000 near the South Carolina border, were still without power Monday, and Kemp and other officials sought to reassure residents that their misery was felt.

With at least 25 deaths in South Carolina, Helene was the deadliest tropical cyclone to hit the state since then Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people.

Tropical Storm Kirk is forming and could become a strong hurricane

Tropical Storm Kirk formed in the eastern Atlantic on Monday and is expected to become a “large and strong hurricane” by Tuesday night or Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm was located about 700 miles (1,125 kilometers) west of the Cabo Verde Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour (70 km/h). There were no coast guards or warnings and the storm system posed no threat to the country.

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Associated Press reporter John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Beatrice Dupuy in New York City and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed.