Rescue efforts continue as Hurricane Helene’s death toll climbs

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Rescue and volunteer crews are entering the second week of searching for victims of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida last Friday. At least 215 people are confirmed dead, with many more still missing or unaccounted for. The Category 4 storm is now the deadliest to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

North Carolina has reported nearly half of the confirmed fatalities, while other deaths have been reported in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. In Asheville and surrounding Buncombe County, at least 72 people have died due to flash floods, mudslides and falling trees.

Rescue efforts are facing significant challenges due to difficult terrain, power outages and loss of phone service. Teams are combing through downed trees and blocked roads, searching for isolated or missing individuals.

The Pensacola Volunteer Fire Department reports devastating losses after a wall of water swept through a valley on Thursday. Mark Harrison, chief medical officer for the department, says they lost an untold amount of people, but are persisting.

“We’re starting to do recovery,” he said. “We’ve got the most critical people out.”

Meteorologists and emergency officials had warned about Helene’s catastrophic potential days before the storm hit, particularly highlighting the risks of severe flooding and high winds. Steve Wilkinson, head meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Greenville-Spartanburg office, said, “Despite the dire predictions, the impacts were probably even worse than we expected.”

Wilkinson’s team sent more than a dozen alerts through social media and emergency channels, urging people to evacuate. Some messages warned that the damage could be the worst in a century, comparing it to the Great Flood of 1916, which killed 80 people – a somber reference as the death toll continues to rise.

According to NBC News, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper called Helene an “unprecedented, devastating storm” and acknowledged that recovery will require billions of dollars. He emphasized the need to rebuild in a more resilient way.

“It’s going to take billions of dollars to bring our infrastructure back where it needs to be, but when we rebuild Western North Carolina – and we will – we must make it more resilient,” Cooper said.

Some areas of Western North Carolina received more than a foot of rain, and Mount Mitchell State Park recorded wind gusts of up to 106 mph. The French Broad River Basin saw record-breaking floods, with rivers exceeding their previous highest crests by several feet.

Though phone service is unreliable in the mountainous region, Wilkinson believes his team did everything they could to warn residents. The National Weather Service posted a heartfelt message on X, thanking first responders and expressing their devastation over the storm’s impact. “This is one we wanted to get wrong,” the post said.

Power is slowly being restored in parts of the Carolinas and Georgia. President Joe Biden visited the region on Wednesday to survey the damage, announcing a federal commitment to cover debris removal and emergency protective measures. The Biden administration has pledged six months of federal funding for North Carolina and three months for Georgia to aid in recovery efforts.

The federal funds will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and cover the costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters and mass feeding efforts.

Gavin Rollman is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email gmr5526@psu.edu.