FEMA Chief Warns of ‘Complicated’ Recovery Process After Helene Hammers 5 States

Officer Nate Martir, a law enforcement officer from the Florida Fish Wildlife and Conservation Commission, holds an American flag that was lying on the ground amid debris, while patrolling from a high water capable swamp buggy, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Cedar Key, Fla., Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned on Sunday that the recovery process after storm Helene hit five states will likely be “really complicated” as parts of North Carolina remain isolated due to floods.

Since Sept. 26, Helene has produced extensive damage across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina, leaving more than 100 dead and millions left without power as of Monday morning. The storm hit Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm, later dumping significant rainfall on the lower half of the Appalachian Mountains.

“We absolutely have enough resources from across the federal family,” FEMA Director Deanne Criswell told CBS News on Sunday. “FEMA is one part of the team, and we have the ability to bring in all of our team members from many other federal agencies to support this response.”

She noted that the storm heavily impacted multiple states, damaging or destroying critical infrastructure such as roads, communications, and water systems.

At least 107 people across several states were killed, officials said on Monday. A North Carolina county that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people killed.

“We’re hearing significant infrastructure damage to water systems, communication, roads, critical transportation routes, as well as several homes that have been just destroyed by this,” Criswell told the outlet. “So this is going to be a really complicated recovery in each of these five states that have had these impacts.

“We will continue to bring those resources in to help [local officials]. ... We want to work with them to rebuild in a way that’s going to help make them more resilient and reduce the impacts from the increased number of storms that they’re experiencing.”

Local officials have warned that rebuilding from the widespread loss of homes and property would be lengthy and difficult. The storm upended life throughout the Southeast. Deaths also were reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure, and widespread flooding.

In Asheville, Mayor Esther Manheimer told WLOS-TV that residents are urged to save water and prepare for a long-term water outage.

“We don’t want people to assume that’s going to happen quickly,” she said. “We need to make sure people understand that this is something they should plan for long term. They need to keep water for drinking, for flushing toilets, for things like that ... don’t assume this is going to end anytime soon.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters on Saturday that it looked “like a bomb went off” after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air.

President Joe Biden described the impact of the storm as “stunning” and said he would visit the area this week as long as it does not disrupt rescues or recovery work. In a brief exchange with reporters, he said the administration is giving states “everything we have” to help with their response to the storm.

On Sunday, the Biden administration approved federal major disaster declarations for Florida and North Carolina and issued a disaster declaration in South Carolina in Helene’s wake. Emergency declarations have been approved in Georgia and Tennessee.

As of Monday, tracking site Poweroutage.us shows that more than 100,000 are without power in Florida, 574,000 lack power in Georgia, 765,000 are without power in South Carolina, 457,000 have no power in North Carolina, and nearly 100,000 lost power in Virginia.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center provided updates on Monday on a tropical system that is forecast to become a major hurricane later this week. The storm is currently located hundreds of miles from the eastern Caribbean Sea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.