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FEMA Broadens Disaster Assistance Area as Hurricane Helene Damage Tops $110 Billion, 1,000+ Missing, 100+ Dead

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I-40 is washed-out near the North Carolina / Tennessee state line, hampering rescue efforts to communities destroyed by the high flood waters. Image: NCDOT
I-40 is washed-out near the North Carolina / Tennessee state line, hampering rescue efforts to communities destroyed by the high flood waters. Image: NCDOT

FEMA announced today that federal disaster assistance is now available to a broader area dealing with the catastrophe left behind by Hurricane Helene. Officials say damages are over $100 billion, there’s more than 1,000 people missing or unaccounted for, and dozens have been confirmed dead by the powerful hurricane that impacted a large part of the southeastern United States in recent days.

Hurricane Helene smashed into Florida last Thursday, September 26, and quickly moved inland, bringing not only an epic storm surge and destructive wind damage to the coast, but damaging winds and extremely heavy rains far inland to the Appalachians.  While the remnants of Helene rained themselves out over the Appalachians, rain measured in feet fell, creating catastrophic flash floods all while knocking down dams and triggering landslides over a very broad area.

 

More than a thousand people are reporting missing or unaccounted for, most of them living in communities in the Carolinas that no longer exist due to the flash floods that scrubbed the landscape of homes, highways, businesses, and more. The official death count stands at least at 110, with officials saying it may be days or weeks before the full count is known due to so many communities being inaccessible –or outright gone from maps.  North Carolina is leading the death toll count with 46 confirmed dead; South Carolina reported 27 deaths while Georgia reported 23. Florida reports 13 deaths while Tennessee and Virginia each had two

 

Today, FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance was now available to residents of Virginia. According to their press release, FEMA has been “authorized to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.”

In addition to today’s emergency declaration in Virginia, emergency declarations were already made and approved for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.