Storm Helene continues to unleash its fury across the southeastern United States after leaving at least 49 people dead in several states, destroying communities, knocking out power and leaving many people trapped in floodwaters.
The historic storm hit the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday night (26) as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane.
Deaths in 5 states
Storm-related deaths were reported in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.
At least 19 have died in South Carolina, including two firefighters who died in Saluda County, according to state officials.
In Georgia, at least 15 people were killed, two of them killed by a tornado in Alamo, according to a spokesman for Gov. Brian Kemp.
Florida officials reported eight deaths, including several people who drowned in Pinellas County.
Six more deaths were reported in North Carolina and include a car crash on a slippery road that left a 4-year-old girl dead.
And in Craig County, Virginia, one person died in a storm-related tree fall and building collapse, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Friday.
Dam failure considered imminent
A flash flood emergency has been issued for parts of Cocke, Greene and Hamblen counties in East Tennessee until 8 a.m. Eastern Time. The emergency is for an imminent dam failure on the Nolichucky River below the Nolichucky Dam.
The National Weather Service states that “dam operators reported the imminent failure of the Nolichucky Dam” in the flood emergency report. Several rivers in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee rose rapidly.
Even though the heaviest rain has passed, an additional 1 to 2 inches is expected to fall this weekend. River levels will take hours or days to return below critical levels. If the dam fails, flooding could result in an “extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” the weather service said.
Storm rescue missions underway
Nearly 4,000 National Guardsmen were conducting rescue efforts in 21 Florida counties, the Defense Department said Friday. North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama also activated guards. The Biden administration has also mobilized more than 1,500 federal employees to support communities affected by Helene, Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday.
Severe flooding in North Carolina
Helene “is one of the worst storms in modern history for parts of North Carolina,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. Western parts of the state were hit by heavy rain and winds approaching hurricane force levels, life-threatening flash flooding, numerous mudslides and power outages.
More than 100 people were rescued from the floodwaters, the governor said. More than two feet of rain fell in the state’s mountainous region between Wednesday morning and Friday morning, with Busick recording a total of 29.58 inches in just 48 hours. In the hard-hit city of Asheville, a citywide curfew is in effect until 7:30 a.m. Saturday, officials said.
About 20 miles southwest of Asheville, torrential and overwhelming rains were pushing the Lake Lure dam toward “imminent failure,” according to the National Weather Service.
More than 3 million without power
The remnants of Helene continued to cut power in several eastern US states on Saturday morning, with nearly 3.3 million customers left in the dark in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio, according to PowerOutage .us.
This content was originally published in Hurricane Helene leaves at least 49 dead in the southeastern United States on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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