President Joe Biden on Sunday approved a federal major disaster in North Carolina and Florida after storm Helene caused widespread damage across the western portion of the state, including producing torrential rains that have sparked mudslides and flooding that have cut off entire communities.
A North Carolina County that includes the mountain city of Asheville, reported 30 people killed due to the storm, pushing the overall death toll to at least 84 people across several states.
As of Sunday morning, there were more than 60 deaths caused by Helene across the United States. Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday along a largely undeveloped expanse of pine trees and salt marshes on Florida’s Big Bend coast as a Category 4 storm before it weakened to become a tropical storm hours later.
The storm produced far-reaching effects across much of the southern United States, producing flooding and tornadoes several hundred miles away.
In North Carolina, Helene’s heavy rains in the state’s western mountains caused massive flooding and mudslides in the Asheville region, cutting off most communication and making the roads impassable.
Video posted online shows large portions of the city of Asheville underwater. In North Carolina alone, more than 400 roads remained closed as of Saturday as floodwaters began to recede and reveal the extent of damage, officials have said.
Cooper said supplies were being airlifted to that part of the state. Buncombe County officials said Interstate 26 between Asheville and South Carolina had reopened, but most other routes into the city were impassible.
In a Sunday afternoon news conference, the governor confirmed that at least 11 people died across the state but warned that more fatalities are expected.
“This is an unprecedented tragedy that requires an unprecedented response,” Cooper said at the Sunday press event. He added that “we know there will be more” deaths and asked residents to avoid traveling on roadways in western North Carolina, not only to avoid dangers but to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams have fanned out across the region in search of stranded people.
“Many people are cut off because the roads are impassable,” he said. Supplies were being airlifted to the region around Asheville, a city tucked in the western North Carolina mountains known for its arts, culture and natural beauty.
The storm was expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley on Saturday and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Western North Carolina was isolated because of landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads, authorities have said. There have been hundreds of water rescues, such as in rural Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop Friday.
Late last week, there were warnings that heavily flooded rivers had overtopped multiple dams in both North Carolina and Tennessee, sparking concerns of dam failures.
