With the aid of daylight on Friday, the full extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in the southeastern states of America began to be recognised. Wide-ranging authorities and local populations had the duty of managing the post-storm cleanup. By Friday evening, the death toll had risen to at least 43 citizens and the anxiety lingered that more fatalities would be discovered in various states.
Downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone by late Friday, the storm persisted in producing torrential rainfall in several areas, leading to potentially life-threatening floods and the realistic threat of dam failures, which could lead to community-wide submersion.
In Pinellas County, located close to Tampa in Florida, the level of destruction seen was unprecedented, according to sheriff Bob Gualtieri. He reported at a press conference that ‘after a few hours in the disaster-stricken area, it appeared akin to a war zone.’
A minimum of 3.5 million people across five states were left without power, and it was predicted that a number of days would pass before power services would be completely operational.
Climate change is a partial contributor to the increased severity and damaging impact of such hurricanes, according to scientists.
Prior to its focus shifting northwards to Georgia, then Tennessee and the Carolinas, Hurricane Helene had descended upon Florida’s Big Bend region on Thursday night. It was a formidable Category 4 hurricane with winds of 225kph, and it left behind a scene of chaos; boats toppled in harbours, falling trees, cars under water and roads plagued with floods.
Emergency services undertook thousands of water rescues across the affected states on Friday. Over 50 individuals were airlifted from a hospital rooftop in Unicoi County, Tennessee, a region about 200km away from Knoxville to the northeast. The area was besieged by flooding that hindered both emergency vehicles and ambulances from operating. The local Emergency Management Agency reported that rescue operations were being undertaken by boat and helicopter.
In another Tennessee area, the mayor of Cocke County, Rob Mathis, ordered an evacuation of downtown Newport due to potential failure of the nearby Walters dam.
In western North Carolina’s Rutherford County, residents in the vicinity of the Lake Lure Dam were warned that it may fail, though reassurances were given late on Friday that such a failure seemed unlikely at that moment.
In Buncombe County, not far away, landslides prompted the closure of both interstates 40 and 26, as announced by the county on X.
Steinhatchee, located along the coast, experienced a drastic storm surge, resulting in a ten-foot wall of sea water sweeping in due to the winds. This led to mobile homes being displaced, as reported by the National Weather Service. Larger vessels were found grounded in private gardens within the barrier island community of Treasure Island in Pinellas County.
The city of Tampa shared information that revealed 78 residents had to be rescued from rising waters by emergency staff, and a significant number of roads remained blocked due to the floods. The Sheriff’s office of Pasco County saved over 65 individuals in the process.
Authorities implored those living in the trajectory of Tropical Cyclone Helene to comply with evacuation directives. The life-threatening nature of the surge was emphasized by National Hurricane Center director, Michael Brennan labelling it as “unsurvivable”.
Sheriff Gualtieri of Pinellas County shared that the extreme conditions obstructed first responders from attending to numerous emergency scenarios, culminating in the unfortunate discovery of five fatalities. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, confirmed two deaths, whilst the governor’s office in Georgia reported 15 storm-related casualties. Two deaths were also reported in North Carolina by Governor Roy Cooper.
Local officials revealed that the storm claimed 19 lives in South Carolina as reported by the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper. – Reuters