Hurricane Helene kills at least 90 in US; homes and memories washed away

By Alyssa Pointer, Maria Alejandra Cardona and Octavio Jones

FLAT ROCK, North Carolina (Reuters) -The Southeastern U.S. began a huge cleanup and recovery effort on Sunday and the death toll climbed towards 100 after Hurricane Helene knocked out power for millions, destroyed roads and bridges and caused dramatic flooding from Florida to Virginia.

The storm’s winds, rain and storm surge killed at least 90 people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, according to a Reuters tally of state and local officials.

Officials feared more bodies would be discovered.

With cellphone towers down across the region, hundreds of people had yet to make contact with loved ones and were listed as unaccounted for. 

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 affected.

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

In North Carolina, nearly all the deaths were in Buncombe County, where 30 people died, Sheriff Quentin Miller told a video conference call with reporters.

County Manager Avril Pinder said she was asking the state for emergency food and drinking water. Streets in the picturesque city of Asheville were submerged in floodwater.

“This is a devastating catastrophe of historic proportions,” Governor Roy Cooper told CNN. “People that I talk to in western North Carolina say they have never seen anything like this.”

Search and rescue teams from 19 states and the U.S. government have converged on the state, Cooper said, adding that some roads could take months to repair.

In Flat Rock, North Carolina, there were widespread blackouts, and people waited hours in line for gas.

“Grocery stores are closed, cellphone service is out,” Chip Frank, 62, said as he entered his third hour waiting in line. “It all depends on these gas stations. You’re not going to be able to go nowhere, and it’s just a scary feeling.”

Roughly 2.7 million customers throughout the South were without power on Sunday, a U.S. Energy Department official said, down 40% from Friday after unprecedented storm surges, ferocious winds and perilous conditions extended hundreds of miles inland.

South Carolina reported 25 dead, Georgia 17 and Florida 11, according to the governors of those states.

CNN reported a total of 93 dead across the South, citing state and local officials.

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

“It’s tragic,” Biden told reporters on Sunday, pledging recovery assistance after declaring major disasters in Florida and North Carolina and emergencies for Florida, North Carolina Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Alabama. “You saw the photographs. It’s stunning.”

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 and “facilitate the distribution of relief supplies,” his campaign said.

Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast on Thursday night, triggering days of driving rain and destroying homes that had stood for decades.

In Horseshoe Beach, on Florida’s Gulf Coast about 70 miles (120 km) west of Gainesville, Charlene Huggins surveyed the debris of her blown-out house, pulling a jacket out of the rubble on Saturday.

“Five generations lived in this house, from my grandmother, my father, myself, my daughter, son and my granddaughter,” Huggins said, holding a chipped glass cake stand. “So there’s a lot of memories here. It just breaks your heart.”

Not far away, James Ellenburg stood on the property where his own family has lived for four generations. “I took my first step right here in this yard.”

The roof of one home sat flat in the dirt, its walls blown away.

   In coastal Steinhatchee, a storm surge – a wall of seawater pushed ashore by winds – of eight to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 meters) moved mobile homes, the weather service said. 

Other areas saw a storm surge of 15 feet (4.5 meters).

In the nearby tiny community of Spring Warrior Fish Camp, people were surveying the damage on Saturday and still waiting for emergency or first responder aid.

“No one thinks of us back here,” said David Hall, as he and his wife dug through seagrass and dead fish in the office of the hotel they owned. Many of the community’s homes are built on stilts because of a local ordinance and survived heavy damage. 

Kristin Macqueen was helping friends clean up after their house was destroyed in nearby Keaton Beach. “It’s complete devastation,” she said. “Houses have just been ripped off their slabs.”