Massive rains brought by Hurricane Helene have left many people stranded or homeless as the cleanup begins from the monster tempest that killed at least 64 people.
Helene has caused billions of dollars in destruction across a wide swath of the U.S. Southeast. More than 2 million customers were without power Sunday. Some face a continued threat of floods.
Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday and then quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.
Deaths from the storm have occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
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Here’s the latest:
Communications are largely cut off in the North Carolina mountains
ASHEVILLE, N.C. —With power lines gone, roads impassable and cellphone towers destroyed, it’s nearly impossible to communicate in the North Carolina mountains.
While the population center of Asheville was able to get video briefings out to the world, many counties were just able to get messages out to Facebook and other social media late Saturday.
They included posts to stay strong, to stay in place and to conserve water. But some areas have been out of touch since the storm reached its peak.
“We are going to touch every house it’s just going to take a while,” said a Facebook post by Mitchell County 911. It serves a population of around 15,000 and is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Asheville.
Instead of publishing a list of closed roads, next door Avery County just listed the eight roads in the county that are open.
A few counties that regularly post information have listed nothing since passing along flash flood emergency warnings during the worst of the storm. Other posts are from out-of-area relatives asking emergency officials to check on loved ones.
In Cherokee County in the far western part of North Carolina, the sheriff’s office posted pictures of a temporary cell tower being installed in its parking lot Saturday night.
“We will announce when it is operational, so please wait until after that time to crowd around,” deputies wrote.
Still without power, this church and others in the region are holding Sunday services
PERRY, Fla. — Many houses of worship along Florida’s Big Bend are dealing with power outages, damaged roofs and hurricane debris from Hurricane Helene. Some people in this area lost nearly everything they own.
Standing water and tree debris still covers the grounds of Faith Baptist Church in Perry. The church called on parishioners to come “pray for our community” in a message posted to the congregation’s Facebook page.
“Still no power, or water – so bathrooms will be unavailable. We have chairs, or you can bring your own!” the post reads.
Parishioners filed into the darkened sanctuary of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Perry on Sunday morning, the altar illuminated by candlelight. The cross topping the steeple of the white clapboard church was bent sideways from the hurricane-force winds and shingles ripped from the roof still scattered the grounds.
“We have power. We don’t have electricity,” parishioner Marie Ruttinger said. “Our God has power. That’s for sure.”
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