Helen death toll rises to at least 166 as Biden plans to visit devastated Carolinas

SWANNANOA, N.C. — President Joe Biden will survey the devastation in North and South Carolina on Wednesday; Rescuers will continue to search for unidentified people after Hurricane Helene caused devastating damage in the Southeast and killed at least 166 people.

Many residents in both states were still without water, cellphone service and electricity as floodwaters receded, revealing more of the death and destruction left in Helene’s path.

Speaking on Tuesday, Biden said, “We must begin this recovery process immediately,” estimating that it will cost billions of dollars. “People are scared to death. This is an emergency.”

While Biden is in the Carolinas, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in neighboring Georgia.

Helene, one of the deadliest storms in recent U.S. history, knocked out power and cellular service for millions of people. More than 1.2 million customers were still in the dark early Wednesday in the Carolinas and Georgia. Some residents cooked on charcoal grills or ascended to higher ground in hopes of finding a signal to let loved ones know they were alive.

On Tuesday, cadaver dogs and search teams waded through knee-deep mud and debris in the mountains of Western North Carolina, searching for more victims. At least 57 people were killed in Buncombe County alone, home to the city of Asheville, a tourist mecca known for art galleries, breweries and outdoor recreation.

In Swannanoa, a small community outside Asheville, floodwaters receded to reveal cars piled on top of each other and trailer homes floating during the storm. The roads were covered in mud and debris and had potholes due to potholes.

Cliff Stewart survived two feet of water pouring into his home, causing the wheels of his wheelchair to topple over and pill bottles to fly from room to room. Left without electricity and dependent on friends dropping off food, the man refused offers to help him leave.

“Where will I go?” the Marine Corps veteran said. “This is all I have. I just don’t want to give up because what do I do? Be homeless? I’d rather die here than live homeless.”

“Communities have been wiped off the map,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said at a news conference.

Across the border in East Tennessee, a caravan with Gov. Bill Lee surveying the damage outside the town of Erwin was passing a crew that was pulling two bodies from the wreckage; It was a painful reminder that rescue and recovery operations were still ongoing and the death toll was very high. is likely to rise.

In Augusta, Georgia, Sherry Brown was converting power from her car’s alternator to keep her refrigerator running. He takes a “bird bath” with water collected in coolers. In another part of the city, citizens waited in line for more than 3 hours to get water from one of the five centers established to serve more than 200 thousand people.

What is being done to help?

Exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded in the storm that killed at least 166 people in six states; many of them were struck by falling trees or trapped in flooded vehicles. houses. Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, with dozens more in South Carolina and Georgia.

More than 150,000 households have signed up for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to grow rapidly in the coming days, agency representative Frank Matranga said.

He said nearly 2 million ready meals and more than one million liters of water had been sent to the worst-hit areas.

The storm caused North Carolina’s worst flooding in a century, dropping more than 6 feet of rain in places.

The Cooper administration said Tuesday that more than two dozen water utilities remained closed. Active-duty US military units may be needed to help with the long-term recovery, the official said, adding that Biden has given the “green light” to mobilize military assets soon.

A section of Interstate 40, one of the region’s main arteries, reopened Tuesday after clearing a mudslide, but a collapsed section near North Carolina’s border with Tennessee remained closed.

How are some of the hardest-hit areas coping?

In Hot Springs, North Carolina, where nearly every building along the small town’s main street was heavily damaged, residents and business owners wore masks and gloves Tuesday as they cleared debris.

Sarah Calloway, owner of deli and gourmet grocer Vaste Riviere Provisions, said the storm came to town frighteningly quickly. He helped fill sandbags the night before, but they turned out to be useless. The water rose so quickly that he feared he and others would not be safe, even though they were in an upstairs apartment. They called to request a rescue from a swift water crew.

“They tried to reach us, but they couldn’t at that point,” he said. “Fortunately, that’s when the water started to recede.”

“It was really challenging to watch how fast it rose and then all the buildings floating down the river. “This was something I can’t describe,” he said.

Carina Ramos and Ezekiel Bianchi were stunned by the damage at Black Mountain Mobile Home Park in Swannanoa on Tuesday. The couple, their children and their dog fled in the pre-dawn darkness Friday as rapidly rising waters of the Swannanoa River flooded the lower part of the park.

Trees were blocking the roads at the time and the couple abandoned their three vehicles, leaving them flooded.

“We dropped everything because we panicked,” Ramos said.

Her children were staying with Ramos’ parents and she didn’t even want to see the ruined trailer.

“My daughter was crying, panicking,” Ramos said. “He says he doesn’t want to see his room full of toys thrown everywhere.”

Mobile service is disabled

Widespread damage and outages affecting communications infrastructure have left many people without stable access to the internet and cellular service.

Zeb Smathers, the mayor of Canton, North Carolina, expressed frustration Tuesday that many of his constituents are still without cellphone service and have not been given a clear timeline for when it will be restored.

“People are walking the streets of Canton with their phones up and trying to catch a cell phone signal as if it were a butterfly,” he told The Associated Press. “Every aspect of this response was extremely crippled by the lack of cell phone communication. They failed at a time when we absolutely needed our cell phones to work.”

Verizon crews are working to repair downed cell towers, damaged fiber cables and provide alternative forms of connectivity throughout the region, the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, AT&T said it was launching “one of the largest mobilizations of our disaster recovery assets for emergency connectivity support.”

David Zumwalt, president and CEO of Broadband Without Borders, said efforts to restore service are made more challenging by the region’s terrain and dispersed population.

Destruction from Florida to Virginia

Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday, disrupting life in the Southeast where deaths were also reported in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.

Helene’s path through Georgia’s interior knocked out power and shattered lives from Valdosta to Augusta, where the line of cars waiting to get water stretched at least a half-mile down the road Tuesday.

“It was a tough situation,” said Kristie Nelson, who had no idea when her power would be restored. “I’m dying for a hot shower.”

Helene, which killed at least 36 people in South Carolina, surpassed the 35 people who died in the state after Hurricane Hugo reached north of Charleston in 1989.

When Tennessee Gov. Lee flew to the eastern part of the state Tuesday to survey the damage, residents said the governor and his entourage were the first help they had received since the storm hit.

“Where was everyone?” a disappointed local asked. “We’re left here alone.”

Kruesi reported from Hampton, Tennessee. Associated Press journalists Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh contributed to this report; Jeffrey Collins in Augusta, Georgia; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Rebecca Santana in New Orleans; Shawn Chen in New York; Colleen Long in Washington and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.