AFP, CEDAR KEY
Rescuers on Saturday struggled with washed-out bridges and debris-strewn roads in the search for survivors of devastating Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 63 people across five states and caused massive power outages.
Helene slammed into Florida on Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and surged north, gradually weakening, but leaving in its wake toppled trees, downed power lines and mudslide-wrecked homes.
Federal emergencies were declared in six states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — with more than 800 personnel from the US Federal Emergency Management Administration deployed.
An aerial photograph shows storm damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Valdosta, Georgia, on Saturday.
Photo: AFP
Now classified as a “post-tropical cyclone,” the remnants of the storm were expected to continue inundating the Ohio Valley and the central Appalachians through yesterday, the US National Hurricane Center said.
In affected communities across the eastern coast and the Midwest, storm victims and volunteers toting trash bags, mops and hammers tried to repair what they could and clean up the rest. At least 24 people died in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, 10 in North Carolina and one in Virginia, according to local authorities and media tallied by AFP.
The US National Weather Service said conditions would “continue to improve today following the catastrophic flooding over the past two days.”
However, it warned of possible “long-duration power outages.”
“Main issue is the electrical power,” said another man from Valdosta who declined to give his name. “With the whole town down, the traffic lights are out. So driving around… people should just stay home.”
More than 2.6 million customers were still without electricity across 10 states from Florida in the southeast to Indiana in the Midwest as of yesterday morning, tracker poweroutage.us said.
Helene blew into Florida’s northern Gulf shore with powerful winds of 225kph. Even as it weakened into a post-tropical cyclone, it has wreaked havoc.
The North Atlantic hurricane season runs from the beginning of June to the end of November, with most of the severe storms historically forming about the end of last month or beginning of this month.
