Helene death toll tops 200; long recovery predicted for hard-hit western N.C.

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The death toll from Hurricane Helene topped 200 and nearly 1 million residents across four states remained without power Thursday as the enormous scale of the damage wrought by last week's storm became clearer.

With nearly a dozen more deaths confirmed Thursday, the overall toll from the storm soared past 200, according to tallies kept by NBC News and USA Today , including fatalities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.

At those levels, Helene has emerged as the deadliest hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Katrina in 2005 and the fourth-deadliest of all time.

As of late Thursday afternoon, more than 900,000 homes and businesses lacked power in those states, according to Poweroutage.us., including 278,000 in North Carolina, where the situation remained dire nearly a week after Helene came ashore in the Florida Panhandle as a Category 4 storm.

Large portions of the mountainous western part of the state, where as much as 30 inches of rain fell and strong winds pummeled infrastructure, remained without power, cellphone communication, internet service, road access and running water on Thursday.

The vast scale of the destruction and was still sinking in in Asheville, N.C., as local and state officials warned hard-hit residents that it will take weeks, if not longer, for basic necessities to be restored. Overnight curfews remained in effect for the city as officials confirmed 61 people in Buncombe County, N.C., had died due to the storm.

MaryAnn Tierney of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who is coordinating the response in western North Carolina, on Thursday said she had taken a tour of Buncombe County to "see firsthand" the level of damage and devastation.

"It is significant," she said in an update . "The recovery is going to take a long time and FEMA is going to be here for the duration of the response and recovery."

The National Guard was also helping to get food, water and supplies to distribution sites and shelters throughout the county as water supplies in Asheville remained disrupted.

"The damage to water distribution systems is extensive, even if plants are operational, water can't be delivered to the community if distribution systems are not available," city officials warned. "Crews are making repairs to inaccessible areas as soon as possible."

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper met with community and business leaders in Boone, N.C., on Thursday to discuss relief a day after he and President Joe Biden took an aerial tour of areas damaged by Hurricane Helene.

During a subsequent briefing attended by Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas , Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and other top state and federal officials, Biden announced the approval of 100% FEMA reimbursement for six months.