Authorities rushed to airlift supplies and restore communications and roads to flooded Asheville, North Carolina, on Sunday as residents of storm-hit Florida’s coast gathered for church services amid the debris of Hurricane Helen.
Heavy rains from a powerful Helen have left people homeless and awaiting rescue across the southeastern United States. Cleanup from the storm, which killed at least 64 people, caused widespread destruction across southeastern states and left millions without power, continued Sunday.
As the sun rose over Big Bend, Florida, on Sunday after Hurricane Helen pummeled the area, many places of worship were still dealing with power outages, roof damage and hurricane debris, leaving many worshipers devastated. He knew that he was suffering further damage from the disaster. storm.
More than 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) away in Texas, Jessica Dry Turner was pleading for someone to help her stranded family on a rooftop in Asheville, North Carolina, surrounded by rising floodwaters. “They watch 18-wheelers and cars drive by,” Turner wrote in an emergency Facebook post Friday.
But in a follow-up message that was widely shared on social media on Saturday, Ms Turner said help did not arrive in time to save her parents, who are in their 70s, and her six-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and three people drowned.
“Words cannot convey the sadness, heartbreak, and devastation my sisters and I are experiencing, nor can I imagine the pain before our eyes,” she wrote.
Helen made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph (225 kph).
From there it quickly moved through Georgia, and Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that it looked like a bomb had gone off, seeing destroyed homes and debris-covered highways from above. A weakened Helen then flooded the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains, sending streams and rivers on both sides and straining dams.
Landslides and flooding isolated much of western North Carolina, closing Interstate 40 and other roads. Hundreds of water rescues have been carried out over the years, but none as dramatic as the one in rural Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were rescued by helicopter from the roof of a hospital on Friday. Rescue efforts continued the next day in Buncombe County, North Carolina, where parts of Asheville were submerged under water.
The storm is expected to remain over the Tennessee Valley Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
It caused the worst flooding in North Carolina in 100 years. One community, Spruce Pine, received more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rain from Tuesday to Saturday.
In Big Bend, Florida, some people emerged from the storm without nearly all their possessions and no shoes. As of Sunday morning, 97% of customers were without power, sanctuaries across the county remained dark, and some churches had canceled regular services but, like Faith Baptist Church in Perry, had decided to hold their services outdoors. There was also a church of choice.
Accumulated water and wood debris still covers the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. The church asked parishioners to “pray for our community” in a message posted on the congregation’s Facebook page.
“We don’t have electricity or water yet, so you won’t be able to use the bathroom. We have chairs available, so feel free to bring your own!” the post reads.
Atlanta received 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain in 48 hours, the most rain the city has experienced in two days since record-keeping began in 1878.
President Joe Biden on Saturday called Helen’s plight “overwhelming” and pledged to send aid. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funds available to affected individuals.
At least 25 people have been killed in South Carolina, making Helen the worst tropical cyclone to hit the state since Hurricane Hugo, which made landfall just north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people. Deaths have also been reported in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
Moody’s Analytics predicted property damage would be between $15 billion and $26 billion. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimates put the total damage and economic losses caused by Helen in the United States between $95 billion and $110 billion.
Evacuations began before the storm hit and continued as lakes overflowed, including the North Carolina dam that formed the lake featured in the movie “Dirty Dancing.” Helicopters were used to rescue some people from flooded homes.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the 11 confirmed deaths in Florida included nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation zone on the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County.
None of the victims were from Taylor County, where the storm made landfall. It made landfall near the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of where Hurricane Idalia struck with almost the same ferocity last year.
Taylor County is located in Florida’s Big Bend and hasn’t been hit by a hurricane in years. But after Idalia and two other storms in just over a year, the region is starting to feel like a hurricane superhighway.
“It’s making everyone aware of the reality of the disaster,” said John Berg, 76, of Steinhatchee, a small fishing town that is a weekend getaway.
Climate change is worsening the conditions for such storms to form, and rising ocean temperatures can quickly intensify them, sometimes turning them into powerful cyclones within hours.
Helen was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an above-average season this year due to record-warm ocean temperatures.
