The head of the U.S. Disaster Relief Agency said Hurricane Helen, which killed nearly 100 people, caused “significant infrastructure damage” and was a “true multi-state event” made worse by global warming. Ta.
The storm killed at least 91 people, according to state and local officials in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Authorities feared more bodies would be discovered.
“Recovery is going to be very complex in each of our five states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee,” Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) Director Deanne Criswell said.
He noted that Helen made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph (225 kph), with a 15-foot storm surge hitting Taylor County, Florida, and areas in western North Carolina. He noted that search and rescue operations are continuing. , recorded 29 inches (74 centimeters) of rain as the storm stalled over the area.
“This is historic flooding in North Carolina,” Criswell said Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation. “No one can be completely prepared for the scale of the floods and landslides we are experiencing.”
Kamala Harris said the Joe Biden administration has approved state of emergency declarations for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, calling for a “coordinated response at the local, state, and federal levels.” We have made available the resources and funding to maximize our efforts.”
The White House announced Sunday that Biden plans to visit areas affected by Hurricane Helen this week, as long as it does not disrupt emergency response efforts.
Biden spoke with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Sunday night to receive an update on response and recovery efforts and to provide continued support to affected communities. I promised.
Counties in North Carolina, including the mountain city of Asheville, reported 30 deaths from the storm. As many as 1,000 people remain missing in Buncombe County in the Appalachian Mountains, where a hurricane caused devastating flooding and mudslides in the Asheville area, cutting off most transportation and leaving roads impassable. It became impossible.
Supplies were being airlifted to isolated peri-urban areas. Buncombe County Administrator Avril Pinder has promised to deliver food and water to Asheville, known for its arts, culture and natural attractions, by Monday.
More than 150 search and rescue operations were underway in the state. “People are desperately seeking help,” Cooper’s office said Sunday. “Even though the rain and wind have subsided, the challenges for local people are increasing.”
“To say this caught us off guard would be an understatement,” Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said.
Pinder called the storm “Buncombe County’s own Hurricane Katrina,” and officials said communication systems were disrupted and cell phone service was expected to be unavailable in the area for at least “several days.”
At least 23 people were killed in South Carolina, including two firefighters. At least 17 people were killed in Georgia, including two in the Alamo tornadoes, according to a Kemp spokesperson.
“It looked like a bomb had gone off,” Kemp said Saturday, looking from above at the shattered homes and debris-covered highways.
Heavy rains nearly caused the Nolichucky Dam in Greenville, Tennessee to collapse, with the National Weather Service calling the dam “an especially dangerous situation” and urging at least 100,000 residents in the area to “seek higher ground now!” I called out.
Dozens of patients and staff were removed by helicopter from the roof of a hospital in rural Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee on Friday. At least 11 people have died in Florida, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“If you had told me there was going to be a 15- to 18-foot storm surge, I knew that despite our best efforts, there would have been multiple deaths,” DeSantis said.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the 11 confirmed deaths in Florida included nine people who drowned in their homes in the mandatory evacuation zone of Pinellas County’s Gulf Coast, which includes St. Petersburg.
One person was killed in Virginia after a tree fell and a building collapsed during the storm.
In North Carolina, the McDowell County Emergency Center was flooded with 911 calls, many of them about patients with “severe trauma and lack of oxygen and necessary medical supplies.”
Nearly 400 roads have been closed in the state, and access to clean drinking water has been limited. There are 50 boil water advisories in effect across the western region.
“Water is a big concern,” Criswell said, adding that Fema is sending bottled supplies, deploying the Army Corps of Engineers to get water treatment facilities working and Starlink satellite reception to help restore communications. He said he had sent a plane.
Mr Criswell said the devastation was linked to the climate emergency. “This storm took a while to develop, but once it did, it intensified very quickly. This is because the warm waters in the Gulf are driving more storms, reaching levels in this major category. It’s for that reason.”
The situation is creating more storm surge in coastal areas and increasing rainfall as the storm moves north, she said.
“In the past, hurricane damage was primarily wind damage, but now it’s much more water damage, and that’s the effect of warmer ocean waters due to climate change,” Criswell told CBS.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
