The total damage caused by Hurricane Helen could exceed $160 billion, making it already the second costliest hurricane in a quarter of a century, according to estimates.
At least 202 people from Florida to Virginia are believed to have died from the storm and its aftermath, and another 600 are missing since Helen made landfall in Florida late last week. NBC News tally. These numbers make Helen the second deadliest storm in the United States of the 21st century, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed at least 1,392 people.
Similar to Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and whose effects are still felt 19 years later, this storm's impact across the Southeast will continue for years to come, even after the worst of the damage has cleared. Dew.
Other damage and economic loss estimates released by AccuWeather are equally staggering, with much of the damage coming in the form of flooding in southern Appalachia, which could total up to $160 billion. Populated areas in the storm's path, such as Asheville, North Carolina, and Tampa Bay, Florida, suffered major damage, while small towns such as Chimney Rock, North Carolina, were nearly swept away last week.
The storm and subsequent days of smaller rainfall dumped an estimated 42 trillion gallons of rain across the Southeast, equivalent to the storage of Lake Tahoe, according to the Associated Press.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies had an estimated 5,000 people deployed as of Thursday, when President Biden is scheduled to visit Georgia and Florida to meet with local leaders. FEMA also estimates that it has delivered more than 9 million meals, 11 million liters of water, and 150 generators to affected areas, while also providing an estimated $20 million in advance recovery funding.
FEMA also lifted the “emergency needs funding” status of funds allocated by the recent continuing resolution to continue government operations. This allows government agencies to fund activities beyond immediate life-saving efforts.
But Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday that while “we are meeting immediate needs with the resources we have,” the agency lacks the funds to deal with a similar storm later in the season. I warned you that there was. The federal funding provided by the continuing resolution is scheduled to run out in December.
Lawmakers from disaster-stricken states of both parties have called for Congress to reconvene to pass additional disaster relief funds left out of the spending bill, but Biden has raised the possibility of convening a new Congress in October. Suggests.
