Helene Death Toll Hits 132

Hundreds are still missing in states including North Carolina, Tennessee
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 30, 2024 6:19 PM CDT
Helene Death Toll Hits 132
Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, North Carolina.   (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

The death toll from Hurricane Helene now stands at 132, and with hundreds still missing, officials expect the toll from what is already America's deadliest hurricane so far this year to rise further. The AP reports that the toll includes at least 40 people in the North Carolina county that includes Asheville. Mike Cayce, the city's fire chief, told CNN that Asheville has suffered a "tremendous amount of wreckage." Cayce said that roads and communications are down and that the city urgently needs food and water. "We need it very quickly. We can't wait any longer," he said. "Our residents have been without food and water now for five days."

  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday that officials are working to truck water into Asheville, the New York Times reports. The agency said 100 roads in North Carolina have been cleared but around 300 more are still impassable, as are more than 100 in Georgia and a similar number in South Carolina.

  • "What we want to tell people is that more help is on the way, and help is continuing," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday, per WLOS. He said after landslides and flooding in rugged terrain in the west of the state, "we're depending a lot on air power, helicopters with hoist capacity to get supplies in," Reuters reports. The AP reports that mules are being used in some areas. National Guard troops and FEMA workers are being assisted by emergency workers from 19 states.
  • President Biden said he would visit North Carolina on Wednesday. "There's nothing like wondering, 'Is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father alive?'" he said at the White House, per Reuters. "Many more will remain without electricity, water, food, and communications, and whose homes and businesses are washed away in an instant. I want them to know we're not leaving until the job is done."

  • In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said the death toll in the state hit 29 on Monday. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said the storm killed at least 25 people in his state.
  • Patrick Sheehan, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said three people had been confirmed dead in the state and more than 100 are confirmed missing, NBC News reports.
  • Donald Trump visited hard-hit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday and said his campaign "brought many wagons of resources." The AP reports that Trump "repeatedly spread falsehoods" about the federal response on Monday, claiming Kemp had been unable to reach Biden because he was "sleeping." Kemp said Monday that Biden "called me yesterday afternoon and I missed him and called him right back and he just said 'Hey, what do you need?'" In a Truth Social post Monday, Trump claimed Biden and Kamala Harris had "left Americans to drown in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and elsewhere in the South."
(More Hurricane Helene stories.)

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