Western North Carolina cut off by 'historic' flooding in Helene aftermath

Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Road closures caused by surging rivers, disrupted Internet and downed cellphone connections in the wake of Hurricane Helene on Saturday isolated western North Carolina in what officials are calling a "catastrophic natural disaster."

Communications, includes landlines, cellphone signals and internet access, remained completely down in hard-hit Buncombe County, located about 120 miles southeast of Knoxville, Tenn., according to local officials.

Emergency calls are "being triaged as they come in, with prioritization for critical, life-threatening emergencies," according to emergency officials in Black Mountain, Tenn., while all the county's rivers remained at "major flood stage" due to rainfall totals in parts of the region reaching as high as 30 inches .

"Please continue to be patient as we work through this unprecedented natural disaster and slowly get our communication systems back up in town and county-wide," local officials said.

The storm forced the closure of Interstate 40 between Asheville, N.C., and Knoxville due to mudslides, causing several pavement failures on a 4-mile near the Tennessee border,

Both I-40 and Interstate 26 remained closed as of Saturday evening, state transportation officials said, hindering efforts to reach flooding victims.

"We cannot say this enough: DO NOT TRAVEL IN OR TO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA," they warned in a Facebook post at 5 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Across the southwestern United States, Hurricane Helene killed more than 50 and plunged millions of homes and businesses into darkness with power outages that could last several weeks across 10 states.

As of Saturday evening, 975,000 utility customers in South Carolina, 605.000 in North Carolina, 677,000 in Georgia and 289,000 in Florida remained without power, according to Poweroutage.us .

"The devastation we're witnessing in Hurricane Helene's wake has been overwhelming. Jill and I continue to pray for all of those who have lost loved ones and for everyone impacted by this storm," President Joe Biden said in a social media post .

Vice President Kamala Harris announced Saturday that emergency declarations for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee had been approved by the White House.

"My heart goes out to everyone impacted by the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene," she said. "Doug [Emhoff] and I are thinking of those who tragically lost their lives and we are keeping all those who loved them in our prayers during the difficult days ahead."

Many of Helene's victims were killed when trees fell onto their homes while others died due to the severe weather in coastal areas in which evacuation orders were issued. Many sought shelter in their attics but were overwhelmed by the storm surge.

While the storm had degraded into a post-tropical cyclone, its lingering effects have been so severe that emergency officials and residents had only begun to calculate the damage by late Saturday.

Local residents near endangered dams in Tennessee and North Carolina were evacuated due to the potential for collapses as new flood warnings continued to be posted Saturday.

Residents in eastern Knox County and Sevier County near the North Carolina border were warned that French Broad River could rise by up to 2.5 feet as water is released to prevent the Douglas Dam from buckling.

Authorities on Friday successfully airlifted more than 50 people stranded by fast-moving floodwaters from the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, in eastern Tennessee. The hospital is closed.

Rising waters topped the Lake Lure Dam in North Carolina's Rutherford County, but the dam remained intact as waters began to recede by 6 p.m. Friday.

The Nolichucky Dam in eastern Tennessee posed a danger of a catastrophic failure early Saturday morning, causing authorities to urge local residents to evacuate the area and move to higher ground.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Chief of Staff Alex Pellom said his agency worked with Tennessee Valley Authority "to confirm that the Nolichucky is not in that state anymore and that we have no dam failures that are reported at the moment.

Biden approved advance emergency relief for affected areas in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina prior to Helene making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph when it made landfall at 11:10 p.m. EDT in Florida's Big Bend region.

FEMA officials are surveying the storm's aftermath in Florida and other states to determine the extent of damage and destruction. Administrator Deanne Criswell was on the ground in Florida and said the agency has more than 800 staffers deployed in affected areas.

Early damage estimates in Florida indicate Hurricane Helene caused more damage than the combined totals caused by the recent Hurricane Debby and last year's Hurricane Idalia.

Flights have been disrupted including the hubs, including 430 cancellations so far Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and 185 cancellations at Hartfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, according to Flight Aware . The Charlotte airport was No.; 1 in the nation and Atlanta airport No. 2 for most cancellations.