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Helene, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday night, has caused at least 19 deaths in South Carolina; 17 in Georgia; 11 in Florida; six in North Carolina, and one in Virginia.
Hurricane Helene , now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, left more than 50 dead and caused extensive damage in five states in the southeastern United States on Saturday before continuing to lose strength as it heads north into the interior of the country.
According to the latest counts, the meteorological phenomenon, which hit Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday night, has caused at least 19 deaths in South Carolina; 17 in Georgia; 11 in Florida; six in North Carolina, and one in Virginia.
Authorities are continuing to work to rescue survivors and recover the affected areas, which have faced dangerous flooding and swollen rivers caused by torrential rains, hurricane-force winds and tornadoes.
According to the Weather Prediction Center, Helene is expected to weaken further and dissipate by Monday, but until then there is a risk of heavy rain in parts of Ohio and the Tennessee valleys , with possible rainfall reaching the Appalachian mountain range by Sunday.
Floods
The National Hurricane Center warned of record flooding in the southern Appalachian Mountains and urged caution because of the risk posed by downed power lines, warning that power outages could persist for some time in some areas.
In its latest bulletin, in the early afternoon, this entity confirmed that Helene was approaching Nashville (Tennessee) and Louisville (Kentucky) with winds of 30 kilometers per hour, much more slowly.
US President Joe Biden today offered his condolences to the victims and families through a message on X in which he described the “overwhelming” devastation of Hurricane Helene and approved an emergency declaration for Tennessee.
Effects
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has deployed more than 800 personnel and is coordinating a federal force of more than 3,200 workers, including the American Red Cross, which is hosting 1,900 evacuees in 100 shelters, according to a statement.
In North Carolina, 400 roads were blocked on Saturday, September 28, especially in the west of the state, hampering emergency operations. The Alpine city of Asheville was one of the hardest hit, virtually cut off by road and without electricity.
Some 3 million people remain without power in a dozen states on Saturday, with the two Carolinas, Georgia and Florida the hardest hit, according to the PowerOutage website.
More than 1,700 flights were delayed in the United States on Saturday, while around 160 were cancelled, with the most affected airports being Asheville and Charlotte (North Carolina), and Atlanta and Augusta (Georgia), according to the Flightaware website.
