'Nation has your back,' Biden says to Hurricane Helene victims. Death toll at 181.
By John Bacon, Evan Gerike, Beth Warren and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY,
16 hours ago
ASHEVILLE, N.C. − President Joe Biden traveled to the Carolinas on a Wednesday tour to survey devastation from Hurricane Helene as residents across much of the Southeast press on with the arduous task of rebuilding their shattered communities, homes and lives.
Biden visited Greenville, South Carolina, and later got an aerial view of the extensive damage in Asheville, North Carolina. Vice President Kamala Harris also made a trip to a highly impacted state, meeting with local officials and first responders in Augusta, Georgia.
"I'm here to say the United States – the nation – has your back,'' Biden said at an emergency command center in Raleigh alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. "We're not leaving until you're back on your feet completely."
Earlier Wednesday, Biden had approved the deployment of up to 1,000 active-duty U.S. soldiers to reinforce North Carolina National Guard members assisting recovery efforts in the state.
The death toll across the Southeast was 181 as of 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, based on state and local reports. Local authorities said they expect the total to rise. Buncombe County, home to Asheville, has reported 57 deaths.
Water authorities warned that potable running water could be weeks away in some areas. Duke Energy said its round-the-clock power-restoration efforts had resolved more than 1.6 million customer outages in the Carolinas. Still, almost 900,000 homes and businesses remained without power in the two states Wednesday; another 450,000 were dark in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia.
Hurricane Helene crashed ashore along Florida's Big Bend as a Category 4 monster late Thursday. Its winds died down after landfall, but the unrelenting rains overwhelmed a wide swath of the already-saturated Southeast. Flash flooding from creeks and rivers destroyed homes and businesses, collapsed roads and ripped victims from their families.
As the waters receded, the damage to infrastructure grew more apparent.
"We are starting to see some of this damage," Duke Energy spokesman Bill Norton wrote on social media. "We had entire substations that were under water."
President Joe Biden meets with first responders and Mayor Knox White of Greenville, South Carolina, at Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in Greer on Oct., 2, 2024. Ken Ruinard, USA TODAY Network
∎ U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the regional cleanup would be a "multibillion-dollar undertaking" and take years to complete.
∎ USA TODAY published a map of resources in the Asheville area that shows where residents can find shelter, water, food and more. The tool is available here.
The Whitson Avenue bridge that crosses the Swannanoa River in North Carolina was heavily damaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. Thomas Costello II / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Harris visited the Augusta Emergency Operations Center in Georgia, where she thanked officials and emergency personnel for their work in the state's recovery from the impacts of Hurricane Helene. She also consoled residents of a neighborhood that had toppled trees and debris on the road.
"It is particularly devastating in terms of the loss of life that this community has experienced, the loss of normalcy and the loss of critical resources," said Harris, who is cutting short her campaign schedule as the Democratic presidential nominee to travel to some of the heavily affected states.
Harris spoke Tuesday with Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and plans to visit North Carolina in the coming days to view the damage, provide updates on federal response and meet with members of affected communities, the White House said.
"I've been reading and hearing about the work you've been doing over the last few days,'' Harris told officials in Augusta, "and I think it really does represent some of the best of what we each know can be done, especially when we coordinate around local, state, federal resources to meet the needs of people who must be seen, who must be heard."
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation opened an inquiry into a plastics manufacturer in Erwin where several workers were swept away by floodwaters from Helene, the Knoxville News Sentinel has learned.
Two women in the group died, an immigrant advocacy group for workers' families said. At least three people are missing. Employees of Impact Plastics have alleged management didn’t allow workers to leave the factory even as warnings were issued and floodwaters from the Nolichucky River began to swamp the building. The company denies the claim.
The bureau confirmed to The News Sentinel – known as Knox News, part of the USA TODAY Network − that District Attorney Steve Finney requested an investigation involving the company but provided no details. Read more here .
Access to safe potable water remains a top concern in western North Carolina, where about 200,000 of the 1 million residents either had no water or low system pressure Wednesday, Reuters reported. In addition, more than 1.1 million customers were still without power in the Carolinas and Georgia as of 6 p.m. ET, according to poweroutage.us .
The municipal water supply system in Asheville, which serves more than 150,000 residents, was so badly damaged by the storm that Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said it would take weeks before it can pump out water. For now, those who are getting water are advised to boil it. .
Water distribution sites have been set up at several locations in ravaged Buncombe County, home to Asheville, with supplies provided in a combined effort by local, state and federal officials. But the lack of running water presents a major obstacle to returning to any semblance of normalcy, such as reopening schools.
"The biggest concern for getting students back to school is water," Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman said at a news conference Wednesday. "Without water, we just simply cannot bring students back or staff back into our building."
Some of the less-obvious dangers from a hurricane can linger long after the winds have died down. They include mold and risk of infection from stagnant floodwater, which can have bacteria from overflowing sewage and agricultural and industrial waste, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Here are the CDC's tips for addressing hazards left behind by large storms:
If you do come in contact with floodwater: Wash the area with soap and clean water as soon as possible. If soap and water aren't available, use alcohol-based wipes or sanitizer. Take care of wounds and seek medical attention if needed. Wash clothes contaminated with flood or sewage water in hot water and detergent before wearing them again.
If you can’t disinfect: Remove and discard items such as mattresses, carpets, rugs, baby toys and most paper products. The same goes for drywall and insulation.
Water and food: Tap water may not be safe, the CDC said. With water you suspect is contaminated, do not use it to wash dishes, brush your teeth, prepare food (including baby formula), wash your hands or make ice. Instead, use bottled, boiled or treated water. Throw away food that may have come in contact with flood or storm water.
Power outages: When possible, use battery-powered flashlights or lanterns instead of candles, gas lanterns or torches to reduce fire risk . Poisoning deaths from exposure to carbon monoxide tend to increase after natural disasters like hurricanes, and the CDC said they're already on the rise after Helene. Never use a generator, pressure washer or any gas-powered engine inside a home or garage, or less than 20 feet from a door, window or vent. Such equipment emits carbon monoxide, which is odorless and colorless and can be fatal.
Relatives and friends of those in areas impacted by natural disasters often become anguished when they can't confirm whether their loved ones in those locations are safe.
Hurricane Helene disrupted power and communications in large swaths of the Southeast, and many communities are still disconnected from the outside world. In some places where internet access is back, power is still out, preventing residents from charging their phones and computers.
But for people in affected areas with even fleeting cellular or WiFi connections, there are ways to signal they're all right, whether it's by indicating so through their voicemail greeting or on Facebook, Instagram or X postings.
The soldiers Biden a pproved being deployed to North Carolina have the manpower and logistical capabilities to "get this vital job done, and fast," the president said in a statement.
"These soldiers will speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies of food, water and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina," Biden said.
The North Carolina Air National Guard said Wednesday that it had delivered over 100,000 pounds of food, water and other critical supplies for Helene victims, part of a coordinated relief effort with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Over 760 North Carolina Guard soldiers and airmen have been assisting with hurricane relief efforts by air and ground, conducting search and rescue missions, delivering supplies and clearing roads.
Helene's deadly and devastating rampage across the Southeast last week has eliminated any hope of a quiet hurricane season for the U.S. There is still plenty of the season left − it runs through November − and "October is historically an active month, particularly in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and off the U.S. Southeast coast," said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane research scientist at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School. It doesn't take a strong hurricane to cause a lot of damage, McNoldy said.
"A slow-moving disorganized disturbance that maybe doesn't quite become a tropical storm can unleash feet of rain over an area and create terrible flash flooding," he said. Rainfall concerns, he added, have historically "taken a back seat to the wind threat in people's minds, despite being deadlier." Read more here .
A son who journeyed 11 miles into the Blue Ridge Mountains to locate his parents. A pastor and a rag-tag group of parishioners navigating collapsed roads to deliver aid to stranded residents. Strangers meeting online and coordinating searches for each other's missing loved ones.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, one of the worst storms the U.S . has seen in the modern era, residents across the devastated Southeast and elsewhere have showcased unshakable resolve, heroism and compassion.
“We’ve had an amazing response,” said Paul McGinnis, the pastor at Grace Chapel Foursquare Church in Forest City, North Carolina. Read more here .
Amid mammoth cleanup efforts, the grief remains overwhelming. In the town of Swannanoa, North Carolina, 20 miles east of Asheville, Jessica Dixon was searching for her father, who she believes was swept away to his death by the raging creek behind their home.
"Dad went to the back to grab my mom's purse," said Dixon, 40. "Then all I could hear was Parker (her son) saying, 'Grandpa's gone. Grandpa's gone.' And he was washed away."
In the mountains of western North Carolina − one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Helene − mothers are doing what they do best: taking care of others . Local Facebook groups, previously filled with weekend activity recommendations and hand-me-down clothes offerings, are now swamped with moms ready to go to great lengths to help one another − even while in dire need themselves.
They're sharing formula and baby wipes. They're giving away their kids' books and toys. They're offering cribs, mattresses, meals. One mom even offered her frozen breast milk. Kate Patterson, the mother of two young children, has spent the past few days going door-to-door, conducting wellness checks on people living in remote, rural areas around Boone.
"You just see the need, and you do it," she said. "There's no sitting around waiting. You just jump into overdrive."
Biden visited with officials and first responders in the Carolinas on Wednesday before heading to Georgia and Florida on Thursday, the White House said. Biden pledged to "build back better and stronger" areas destroyed by Helene.
"The Biden-Harris administration is here,'' he tweeted early Wednesday. "And we're not leaving until the job's done."
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Georgia on Wednesday and has said she will also visit North Carolina soon. Former President Donald Trump went to Georgia on Monday.
After that, it's still too early to tell where it will go or how much it will strengthen, but the NHC and other forecasters say that even if the system doesn't develop into a named storm, "locally heavy rain could hit portions of the Florida peninsula by the weekend."
Also churning in the Atlantic basin is Hurricane Kirk as well as a tropical wave south of the Cabo Verde Islands. Kirk is expected to become a major hurricane by Thursday but isn't forecast to pose a threat to the U.S. The tropical wave is forecast to become a tropical depression in a few days while it moves slowly westward. Its destination remains unclear.
More than 100 physicians and nurses from across the nation are helping out at Mission Hospital in Asheville, HCA Healthcare system spokesperson Harlow Sumerford said. HCA is also providing hundreds of thousands of bottles of water, tens of thousands of gallons of fuel and satellite data networks to Mission Hospital.
The hospital, atop a hill just south of downtown Asheville, dodged flooding that submerged much of Buncombe County but is laboring to keep up with an onslaught of patients from several counties.
"We're very stretched," said Greg Lowe, president and CEO of Mission Health. "It has become difficult with our staff because they're exhausted."
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