Hurricane Helene has claimed fifth life in Anderson County, 20 people have died in Upstate

Hurricane Helene has claimed a fifth life in Anderson County.

According to the Anderson County Coroner's Office, one additional individual died due to a patient missing dialysis due to the storm.

Alyssa H. Whitfield, the Anderson County Public Information officer, said the name of the patient who missed dialysis due to the storm would not be released.

Including this death, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety confirmed that five people have died in Anderson County related to Tropical Storm Helene, and 20 have died in the Upstate. There have been eight deaths in Spartanburg County and seven in Greenville County.

Statewide, 41 people have died, making Helene the most deadly in South Carolina since Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when 35 were killed, according to the National Hurricane Center.  There have been six deaths in Aiken County, two in Chester County, one in Chesterfield County, one in Greenwood County, three in Newberry County, one in Richland County, three in Saluda, one in York, and three in Laurens.

5 hurricane-related deaths in Anderson County

Two people were struck by falling trees in their homes; one person died in a morning head-on collision, and one individual was swept away by stormwater.

∙Karen Denise McCall, 60, of Anderson, was killed Friday morning when her car was swept away on a flooded Harbin Road. A helicopter search team discovered her overturned Toyota sedan Saturday in a wooded area near the road.

Christine Lynn Schmeiske, 55, died when a large tree fell across the center of her home at 419 W. Whitner in Anderson. She was trapped under heavy debris and pronounced dead at the scene.

Sandy Lee Fisher, 54, of Anderson, died at 18 Williams Road when a tree also fell through her home.  Fisher was found under the debris.

Karen Denise McCall, 60, of Anderson, was killed Friday morning when her car was swept away by stormwater.

Greenville News reporter Terry Benjamin contributed to this article.

Travis Rose covers Anderson County for the Independent Mail. Reach him via email at trose@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Hurricane Helene has claimed fifth life in Anderson County, 20 people have died in Upstate