By The New York Times (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-30 17:27:56 | Updated at 2024-09-30 19:27:20
2 hours ago
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The death toll from the storm has risen to more than 110 people across six states. Hundreds remain unaccounted for, and drinking water, gasoline and cellphone service are scarce.
Sept. 30, 2024, 1:24 p.m. ET
Rescuers fought their way along washed-out roads and through mud-filled ravines on Monday to deliver food, water and emergency supplies to devastated communities across the mountains of southern Appalachia.
President Biden said he would visit the region, possibly later this week, as the death toll from Hurricane Helene rose to at least 111 across six states. Almost a third of those killed were in the county surrounding the city of Asheville, N.C.
Though the hurricane made landfall in northwestern Florida on Thursday evening, the damage has spread far and wide in the days since, with strong winds and flash flooding decimating cities and counties far from any coastline.
The damage in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee has been especially dire. Neighborhoods across the region have been utterly destroyed by floodwaters and landslides, and Asheville’s drinking water system was severely damaged.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Monday that officials have been working to truck in drinkable water to the city of about 94,000 people. But the lack of cellphone communication, along with widespread power outages and blocked roads, have left officials unsure of the extent of the damage in many of the small mountain towns ringing Asheville.
Power and cell service has been a problem all across the South. More than two million customers were still without power by midday Monday from Florida to Ohio, with the most in South Carolina, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
