Hurricane Helene leaves dozens dead, many missing across US Southeast

(Reuters) – Emergency responders in North Carolina were racing on Monday to try to reach people who remain unaccounted for three days after Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern United States, killing nearly 100 people, wiping out communications and leaving millions without power.

Cellular phone service remained out in large swaths from Ohio through the Carolinas and into Florida. Some 2.1 million homes and businesses were without power at daybreak on Monday, according to the website Poweroutage.us.

“The lack of communication is concerning,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said on Monday in an interview with CNN. “We know that there are people missing, and we know that there’s going to be significant fatalities at the end of this and our prayers and our hearts go out to these families.”

Cooper, who said he had not heard from his son and daughter in 72 hours, added that local officials and rescue workers were performing door-to-door welfare checks in many communities.

The National Guard is fully activated and emergency workers from 19 states are there to help, along with Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel. Cooper said the rugged terrain in the mountains of western North Carolina makes it almost impossible to traverse with landslides and flooding.

“So we’re depending a lot on air power, helicopters with hoist capacity to get supplies in,” he said.

Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast on Thursday night, triggering days of driving rain and destroying homes that had stood for decades. As it moved north it washed out roads, decimated neighborhoods and left many communities without water and basic necessities.

At least 30 people were killed in Bumcombe County, North Carolina, which includes the city of Asheville, according to the county sheriff. In all, the death toll was near 100 in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, according to a Reuters review of state and local tallies, and was likely to rise.

Damage estimates ranged from $15 billion to more than $100 billion, insurers and forecasters said over the weekend, as water systems, communications and critical transportation routes were damaged or destroyed.

Property damage and lost economic output will become clearer as officials assess the destruction.

President Joe Biden plans to visit affected areas this week, once he can do so without disrupting emergency services, the White House said.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris planned to cut short a campaign trip in Nevada on Monday to take part in briefings in Washington on the hurricane response and will visit the region when doing so won’t impede the response, a White House official said.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will visit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to receive a briefing on storm damage.