What We Know About Hurricane Helene’s Destruction So Far
The New York Times
Helene was the strongest storm to ever hit Florida’s Big Bend region. As it tore through the Southeast, it ravaged western North Carolina, decimating towns with floods and mudslides.
After making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and tearing through the Gulf Coast of Florida and parts of Georgia last week, Helene left large parts of North Carolina in a state of paralysis over the weekend, washing out roads, causing landslides and knocking out power and cell service for millions.
Across western North Carolina, towns were destroyed, gas stations were running out of fuel, and residents were in a communications black hole, scrambling for Wi-Fi to try to reach their friends and family. In Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, the sheriff said Sunday morning that there were at least 10 storm-related deaths.
The chaos in the state was part of a path of destruction that Helene carved through the region including Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia. More than 60 people across the Southeast have died, with some communities decimated.
Here’s how Helene has wreaked havoc across the Southeast.
Helene has brought pounding rains and dangerous landslides to western North Carolina, putting the region in crisis mode. “It’s like a mini-apocalypse,” Gretchen Hogan, a resident of Brevard, N.C., said of the situation there.
Across several counties, towns were cut off from the rest of the state. Cellphone service and power were down in many areas, complicating officials’ efforts to reach people calling 911. Debris, downed trees and flooding led to more than 400 road closures, and gas stations were running out of fuel. Officials said to consider all roads in western North Carolina closed, with only emergency rescue vehicles allowed to travel.
