At least 64 dead, stranded without shelter awaiting rescue and millions without power is the balance so far since the passage of the hurricane "Helen" across the southeastern United States. Earlier, 56 casualties were reported. Against this background, work began on cleaning up the damage from the devastating disaster, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
"I've never seen as many homeless people as I see now," said Janalia England of Steinhatchee, Fla., a small riverside town nestled in the remote Big Bend region. England has organized a donation drive for friends and neighbors affected by the hurricane, many of whom cannot get insurance coverage for their homes.
"Helen" made landfall in the Big Bend area as a Category 4 hurricane Thursday night with winds of 145 mph.
From there, the storm moved quickly across Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp described the situation as "like a bomb had dropped," after getting an aerial view of destroyed homes and debris-covered highways across the state. "Helen" gradually weakened, but moved toward North and South Carolina and Tennessee, bringing with it heavy rains that caused rivers to burst their banks and dams to overflow.
Western North Carolina was cut off from the world after landslides and flooding forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads.
Hundreds of rescue operations have been organized, but none have been as dramatic as the one in remote Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee, where dozens of patients and medics were evacuated by helicopter from the roof of a hospital that was almost completely destroyed. under water. Rescue operations continued in North Carolina, where part of the city of Asheville remained under water.
"To say we were caught off guard would be an understatement," said County Sheriff Quentin Miller.
Janet Barfield's car was stuck in the rising waters, but a police officer managed to save her just as the water was up to her lap.
"It all happened so fast, I was scared to death because I had never had anything like this happen before,'' said Barfield, a traveling nurse.
Although there have been casualties in the county, the director of the local ambulance service declined to share details, as the disabled mobile networks prevent the next of kin from being notified first.
Relatives of missing people, for their part, are posting desperate appeals for help on Facebook. Among those waiting for news is Francine Cavanaugh, whose sister told her just at the start of the storm in Asheville that she was returning to check on guests at a vacation property. Cavanaugh, who lives in Atlanta, has not been able to reach her since then.
"I think people are completely blocked," she said.
The storm, now categorized as a post-tropical cyclone, is expected to hit the Tennessee Valley today, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm caused the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina, where Gov. Roy Cooper described the situation as "catastrophic" as search and rescue teams from 19 states and the federal government rushed to help. Spruce Pine, one of the towns in the state, received 0.6 m of rain between Tuesday and Saturday.
In Atlanta, 28.24 cm has been recorded in the last 48 hours, the heaviest rainfall since records began in 1878.