Hurricane Helene: Death toll rises to 227; search & relief efforts continue
The death toll from Hurricane Helene climbed to 227, as the devastating process of finding bodies continued more than a week after the monster storm battered the Southeast.
PTC News Desk: The death toll from Hurricane Helene climbed to 227, as the devastating process of finding bodies continued more than a week after the monster storm battered the Southeast.
Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm on September 26 and ripped a huge swath of destruction as it proceeded northward from Florida, washing away homes, wrecking roads and knocking out power and mobile service for millions.
On Friday, the death toll stood at 225, with two more recorded in South Carolina the following day. It remains unclear how many people were unaccounted for or missing, and the total could rise even higher.
Helene is the most fatal hurricane to strike the mainland United States since Katrina in 2005. Around fifty percent of the casualties were in North Carolina, with dozens more killed in Georgia and South Carolina.
So far, North Carolinians have received more than $27 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved individual assistance, according to MaryAnn Tierney, the agency's regional administrator. More than 83,000 people have registered for individual aid, according to Gov. Roy Cooper's administration.
FEMA-approved assistance for survivors in Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, exceeded $12 million, Tierney said at a news briefing on Saturday.
"This is critical assistance that will help people with their immediate needs, as well as displacement assistance that helps them if they can't stay in their home."