What We Know About Hurricane Helene’s Destruction So Far

After making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26 and tearing through the Gulf Coast of Florida, Helene plowed north through Georgia and walloped the Blue Ridge Mountains, washing out roads, causing landslides and knocking out power and cell service for millions of people.

Across western North Carolina, towns were destroyed, water and fuel supplies were disrupted, and residents were in a communications black hole, scrambling for Wi-Fi to try to reach friends and family. Officials raced to rescue survivors, locate victims and restore flood-damaged water systems.

The chaos in the state was part of a path of destruction that Helene carved through the region, including portions of Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia. As of Oct. 6, there were more than 230 confirmed deaths from the storm.

Helene is the deadliest tropical cyclone to strike the mainland United States since 2005, when Hurricane Katrina caused nearly 1,400 deaths on the Gulf Coast, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center.

Here’s how Helene wreaked havoc across the Southeast.

Western North Carolina experienced a historic disaster.

Pounding rain, flash floods and dangerous landslides savaged the area around Asheville in western North Carolina, putting the region in crisis. “It’s like a mini-apocalypse,” said Gretchen Hogan, a resident of Brevard, N.C.

So many roads were severed by washouts, mudslides or toppled trees and other debris that many towns were completely cut off. Cellphone service and electric power were down in many areas, complicating officials’ efforts to reach people calling 911.

In all, there were hundreds of road closures in the region, including blockages of two main highways, Interstate 40 and Interstate 26. Officials told residents to consider all roads in western North Carolina closed, with only emergency rescue vehicles allowed to travel.

As crews began the monumental task of trying to clear blocked roads, the state, with assistance from search-and-rescue teams from other states and the federal government, began airlifting food and other supplies to isolated communities and sending workers to begin restoring water systems. Officials in Asheville said repairing the water system there could take several weeks.

People congregated in public places like libraries to try to reach their family and friends. Officials in Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, requested portable cell towers to help restore service while permanent repairs are begun.

After roaring ashore into Florida, Helene set several records.

Helene barreled into Florida’s Big Bend region on the night of Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane, packing 140-mile-an-hour winds. Fueled by very warm ocean temperatures, the storm was the strongest on record to strike the Big Bend region, a marshy and sparsely populated area.

Helene, the third hurricane to hit the Big Bend in 13 months, broke storm surge records all along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including many that were set just over a year ago by Hurricane Idalia.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida spoke about the “complete obliteration of homes” in parts of the state at a news conference on Sept. 28. Cedar Key, a small community on a collection of tiny islands jutting into the Gulf of Mexico, was “completely gone,” said Michael Bobbitt, who lives there.

In Keaton Beach, another small shoreline community, the sheriff told a local TV station that 90 percent of the homes had been washed away.

A record-high storm surge inundated the Tampa Bay region, including areas that had rarely, if ever, seen flooding. After facing several hurricanes in recent years, some residents were left wondering whether it was worth living there.

The storm also struck communities beyond Florida and North Carolina.

Helene overwhelmed towns hundreds of miles from Florida with pounding rain, muddy water and tornadoes, knocking out power as far north as Cincinnati. Many creeks and rivers breached their banks and water overtopped some dams.

Helicopters rescued dozens of people who were stranded on a hospital roof surrounded by floodwaters in eastern Tennessee. The Nolichucky Dam came close to failing before the water there started to recede.

Though the storm largely spared Atlanta, several neighborhoods flooded and about 100,000 households in the area lost power. Across Georgia, there were at least 33 storm-related deaths reported as of Oct. 4, according to Gov. Brian Kemp.

In Tennessee, state officials confirmed at least 13 related-storm deaths. There were still at least 23 active reports of missing people from flood-affected areas as of Oct. 5, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The White House approved emergency requests for federal help from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama before Helene made landfall. Once the storm hit, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said that more than 1,270 rescuers were deployed to assist.

The death toll has surpassed 230.

By Oct. 6, at least 234 people were confirmed to have died because of the storm in six states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Causes of death included rising floodwaters, falling trees, vehicle crashes and a tornado.

Officials have said they will not release names of the victims until their next of kin can be notified. That process has proved to be difficult in many cases because of the limited availability of power and cell service, particularly in western North Carolina. As a result, few details about the dead have been made public.

The state with the highest toll so far is North Carolina, with at least 119 confirmed dead by state or local officials. Among them were deputies from the Macon and Madison County Sheriff’s Offices who were “tragically killed in raging floodwaters,” according to the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association.

At least 49 people were killed in South Carolina, including two volunteer firefighters who were responding to calls when a tree fell on their fire truck, an official said.

In Florida, officials said that at least 18 people were confirmed dead, most of them in Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg, Clearwater and nearby coastal communities. The county, the most densely populated in the state, was inundated with record-breaking storm surge when the center of Helene made landfall more than 150 miles to the north.

Derrick Bryson Taylor, Rachel Nostrant, Maia Coleman, Steven Moity and Halina Bennet contributed reporting.