The death toll from Hurricane Helene has elevaten to 200 as get backrs proceed to search for survivors from the storm that tore atraverse the US south-east.
More than half of the deaths were in North Carolina, where entire communities were uprooted and deimmenseated by the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005.
Hundreds of people are still missing and csurrfinisherly a million homes are without power csurrfinisherly a week after Helene made landdescfinish.
The rising death toll comes as Plivent Joe Biden proceeds his two-day tour of the area visiting Florida and Georgia on Thursday.
Biden acquired an aerial tour of the harm in Tallahassee, Florida, on Thursday where the hurricane made landdescfinish as a categruesome four storm last week.
The plivent has consentd federal calamity aidance for survivors in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Tens of thousands of people have no running water in North Carolina, which has seen some of the most cut offe effects of the storm, particularly in the mountainous area of Asheville.
“I experience appreciate I fair persistd the apocalypse,” Nicole Rojas, a Vilas, North Carolina, livent telderly the BBC.
An elderly couple, Jerry and Marcia Savage, died in bed when a tree fell on their home in South Carolina, their magnificentson telderly the Associated Press news agency. He shelp they were set up hugging one another.
Hundreds of roads remain seald, hampering efforts to send help to challenging-hit communities.
Private citizens have been helping allot help in a variety of ways, including by mule and personally owned helicchooseers.
Mountain Mule Packer Ranch has deployed a team of mules to help carry thousands of supplies into distant communities.
The “certain-footed” pack animals are recognizable with backcountry trails, and can travel on broken aspstop in ways that vehicles cannot, says mule-packer Michele Toberer.
“They are perfectly readyd for the conditions of the mountains,” she says.
So far the team of nine mules has hand overed hundreds of pounds of insulin, baby createula, nappies, canned food, immacutardying supplies, and animal feed, she increates BBC News, grasping that the hugegest contest they’ve faced so far is from the presentant mud left behind by the floods.
North Carolina prisons on Wednesday relocated 800 inmates due to deficiency of power and running water, according to the state’s department of rightions. Over 2,000 prisoners were relocated from other prisons earlier this week.
Family members of prisoners telderly the Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper that they haven’t been able to communicate their cherishd ones for more than a week.
Atraverse the US south-east, over 933,000 customers remained without electricity on Thursday, according to Poweroutages.us.
More than 6,700 Army and Air National Guard members from 16 states are aiding with the on-the-ground response, according to the National Guard.
The plivent deployed 1,000 vivacious-duty selderlyiers to help with the help efforts.
On Wednesday, Biden and Vice-Plivent Kamala Harris toured areas of North Carolina and Georgia esteemively.
Biden shelp the federal regulatement will cover 100% of all eunitency protective meacertain and debris removal costs in North Carolina for six months. He will do the same for Georgia and Florida for the next 90 days.
Former Plivent Donald Trump toured harmd areas in Georgia earlier in the week.
More raindescfinish is foreseeed in the coming days in parts of the Gulf Coast and Florida which could complicate the recovery efforts.
The Atlantic hurricane season proceeds until the end of November.
US Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas cautioned earlier in the week that if another storm struck the US in the coming months, the Federal Eunitency Management Agency would struggle to provide aidance.
“FEMA does not have the funds to originate it thcimpolite the season and what — what is imminent,” Mr Mayorkas telderly increateers earlier in the week, referring to another hurricane hitting the US this season.
The Biden administration has shipped more than 8.8 million meals, 7.4 million litres of water, 150 generators and 225,000 tarps to the region, Mr Mayorkas shelp.
Two storms are currently brethriveg in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Kirk, which is currently a Categruesome Three storm, is foreseeed to originate hazardous surf conditions in Florida and the Caribbean islands, but not foreseeed to originate landdescfinish in the US. Tropical Storm Leslie currently poses no danger to the US.
