Hurricane Helen has become the fourth deadliest U.S. storm in the past 20 years after releasing a devastating 40 trillion gallons of water across the South in just a few days.
At least 152 people have been confirmed dead in six states as of Tuesday, according to National Hurricane Center statistics, bringing Helen's death toll inching closer to the 156 who died in Hurricane Ian in 2022. .
The only storm in recent memory with a higher death toll was Hurricane Katrina, when a levee burst in New Orleans killed at least 1,392 people.
Just days after the Category 4 storm made landfall on Thursday, hundreds of people remain missing in the south, with rescuers using cadaver dogs and helicopters to search through mud and secluded areas. This suggests that the number of deaths may continue to rise as many people continue to walk to their homes in the mountains.
And the devastation caused across the region was unlike anything in recent memory.
Flood torrents nearly destroyed several communities across the Blue Ridge Mountains, flash floods rained down from mountain tops and submerged entire towns, swollen rivers muddied thoroughfares and entire valleys turned into lakes and destroyed. The remains of the destroyed houses are floating.
The area around Asheville, North Carolina, was particularly hard hit, with at least 50 people confirmed dead. As of Monday evening, about 600 people were missing around Buncombe County.
“Communities have been wiped off the map,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday.
Sustained Category 4 winds of at least 130 mph pummeled Florida residents, but it was primarily the storm's “apocalyptic” amount of water that caused severe damage across the South. It was.
Ed Clark, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Water Center, said Helen was accompanied by storms in the days before landfall, releasing more than 40 trillion gallons of water across the South in just five days.
“This is an astronomical amount of precipitation,” Clark said.
40 trillion gallons is enough water to more than double both Lake Powell and Lake Mead (reservoirs that supply water to much of the Southwest), or 619 days of constant water flowing through Niagara Falls. corresponds to If it flowed directly into North Carolina, the state would be covered with 3.5 feet of water.
“In my 25 years working at the Bureau of Meteorology, I have never seen such a vast geographic area and such an enormous amount of water falling from the sky,” Clark said.
The near-biblical flooding destroyed infrastructure, caused power outages across large swaths of the region, and compromised water systems and supplies.
In Asheville, officials warned it could be weeks before water was back on.
Mayor Esther Mannheimer: “And I'm not talking about days.” told Citizen Times. “We want them to plan longer than that.”
As the floodwaters slowly begin to recede, the destruction is followed by clean-up efforts and sometimes horrifying discoveries are made.
In Irwin, Tennessee, a field of debris surrounded Unicoi Hospital, forcing 50 people to evacuate from its rooftop amid flooding.
WeatherNation reporter Will Nunley said as crews cleaned up the area, they found coffins that appeared to have been uprooted from nearby cemeteries scattered around the massacre site around the building.
Although the number of missing people remains high, many people in the region may simply be trapped in areas that are inaccessible due to washed away roads and bridges and unable to communicate with the outside world due to downed power lines. .
“We're going door to door and trying to keep an eye on people and make sure they're safe,” Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said.
“We know there are still places that are difficult to access.”
with post wire
