The death toll from Hurricane Helene climbed to 227 as of Saturday amid continued efforts to recover bodies more than a week after the deadly storm ripped through the United States and killed people in six states.
Hurricane Helene made landfall on September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane, causing widespread devastation as it moved northward from Florida, making it the deadliest hurricane to hit the US since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The death toll from the deadly hurricane is expected to rise as many people remain unaccounted for.
North Carolina witnessed the most impact with half of the hurricane’s victims belonging to the state, while Georgia and South Carolina also suffered significant casualties, NBC News reported.
The city of Asheville, in the western mountains of North Carolina, was particularly battered, with workers cleaning up mud and debris from affected businesses and households, a week after the hurricane hit.
So far North Carolinians have received over $27 million in individual assistance approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said MaryAnn Tierney, a regional administrator for the agency.
In Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, FEMA-approved assistance has surpassed $12 million for survivors, Tierney said Saturday during a news briefing.
“This is critical assistance that will help people with their immediate needs, as well as displacement assistance that helps them if they can’t stay in their home,” she said, before encouraging residents impacted by the storm to register for disaster assistance.
“It is the first step in the recovery process,” she said. “We can provide immediate relief in terms of serious needs assistance to replace food, water, medicines, other life safety, critical items, as well as displacement assistance if you cannot stay in your home.”
In Newport, an eastern Tennessee town of about 7,000, residents continued cleaning up Saturday from the destruction caused by Helene’s floodwaters.