At Least 44 Dead as Helene Strikes Southeastern States
AFP
Florida: At least 44 people have died across five US states affected by the powerful storm Helene, authorities reported on Friday. Torrential flooding has prompted emergency responders to initiate large-scale rescue operations.
Roads, homes, and businesses were submerged, many of them destroyed, as Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane near Tallahassee, Florida, overnight and then moved northward.
As darkness fell on Friday, more than 4.2 million customers were without power across ten states, from Florida to Ohio, according to poweroutage US.
Though Helene weakened to a tropical storm and eventually a post-tropical cyclone, it continued to unleash heavy rains that the National Hurricane Center warned could cause “catastrophic and potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding.”
In Cedar Key, an island city of 700 people off Florida’s northwest coast, the storm’s destructive impact was clearly visible. Several pastel-colored wooden homes were completely destroyed due to storm surge and fierce winds.
Gabe Doty, superintendent of Cedar Key’s water and sewer district, lamented, “I’ve lived here my whole life, and it breaks my heart to see it. We’ve not really been able to catch a break around here.”
Forecasts predict up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the Appalachian Mountains, with some areas expected to receive as much as 20 inches.
In South Carolina, at least 20 people have died, including two firefighters, with six fatalities reported in Spartanburg County, according to County Coroner Rusty Clevenger.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp confirmed 15 fatalities in his state, including an emergency responder, while warning that Valdosta had identified 115 heavily damaged structures with people trapped inside.
Florida’s death toll stands at seven, with Governor Ron DeSantis stating that the damage from Helene has surpassed that of hurricanes Idalia and Debby, which struck the same Big Bend region southeast of Tallahassee in the past year. “It’s a real gut punch to those communities,” DeSantis told Fox News.
In Perry, close to where Helene made landfall with winds of 140 mph (225 km/h), homes lost power and a gas station was flattened. Local resident Larry Bailey, 32, shared, “I am Floridian, so I’m kind of used to it, but it was real scary at one point,” as he sheltered in his small wooden home with his two nephews and sister.
In Erwin, Tennessee, a dramatic rescue operation took place as over 50 patients and staff were trapped on a hospital roof surrounded by floodwaters. Helicopters were deployed for the rescue. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin confirmed one fatality linked to Helene, cautioning that “this storm is not over.”
Globally, September has been an unusually wet month, with Typhoon Yagi impacting Asia, storm Boris drenching Europe, a new hurricane damaging Mexico’s Acapulco, and severe flooding in the Sahel.
Scientists attribute some extreme weather events to human-caused global warming.
Andra Garner, a climate scientist at Rowan University in New Jersey, noted, “Helene traveled over exceptionally warm ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico,” suggesting that these warmer waters likely contributed to Helene’s rapid intensification. Garner added, “Storm surges are getting worse because our sea levels are rising as we warm the planet.”
Curtis Drafton, a search and rescue volunteer in Steinhatchee, Florida, echoed these concerns while addressing the aftermath of Helene and its destructive storm surge: “We have got to start wondering: is this the new normal? Is it going to happen every year?”
Some residents in Atlanta resorted to bailing water out of ground-floor windows with buckets, while in Tampa, Florida, boats were stranded in gardens. In the impact zone, residents were warned of “unsurvivable” storm surge.
President Joe Biden and state authorities urged residents to heed official evacuation warnings before Helene hit, though some chose to remain in their homes.
Vice President Kamala Harris stated that she and Biden “will continue to monitor the situation closely,” adding that the administration has mobilized 1,500 personnel to support impacted communities.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, reported that “over 600 rescues” have been conducted.
