Helene Has Killed at Least 60 People in 5 States

Helene Has Killed at Least 60 People in 5 States

Officials in the Southeast said the toll was likely to rise.

• Share full article

By Jacey FortinAlessandro Marazzi Sassoon and Adeel Hassan

The death toll from Helene had risen to at least 60 people across five states by Saturday morning.

Here’s a breakdown:

Florida

Eleven deaths have been confirmed. Nine people died in Pinellas County, which borders the Gulf and juts into Tampa Bay. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said all the victims were in mandatory evacuation zones.

He said that two of the victims were found in Indian Rocks Beach; one on Treasure Island; one in Dunedin; one in St. Pete Beach; one in Madeira Beach; one in St. Petersburg; and one in Redington Shores. Officials were trying to reach the family of the ninth victim before releasing the identity.

One person died on a highway in Tampa because of a falling sign, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Another person was killed in Dixie County, about two hours southeast of Tallahassee, when a tree fell on a house.

Georgia

Officials have reported 15 storm-related fatalities, according to the office of Gov. Brian Kemp, who added that one of the people who died was an emergency worker.

Two people died in Laurens County and one in Colquitt County because of the storm, but it was not immediately clear what happened, or when.

Two people died in a tornado in Wheeler County, in the south-central part of the state. And in Liberty County, near Savannah, a state representative, Al Williams, said that emergency management officials had told him that a person had died after a tree fell on a camper in the Lake George community.

The locations of the other nine deaths remain unclear.

North Carolina

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina said Saturday night that there have been at least 10 storm-related deaths in western North Carolina. Local officials said they have had a difficult time tracking down relatives of victims because of a lack of cell service.

Earlier, officials reported a death in Catawba County, caused by a car collision on a flooded road, and another in Charlotte, where a tree fell on a home. Officials had identified the car crash victim as a 4-year-old girl.

South Carolina

In Anderson County, two people died after trees fell on their homes, according to the coroner’s office there. One driver died after her vehicle collided with another car on a road that had been reduced to one lane.

There were also two storm-related deaths in Newberry County, according to the sheriff’s office there, along with four deaths in Aiken County, four in Greenville and five in Spartanburg, according to the county coroners.

In Greenwood County, one man died after a large tree fell onto his house, pinning him down, said Sonny Cox, the county coroner.

The dead also included two volunteer firefighters responding to calls in Saluda County, Gov. Henry McMaster said at a Friday news conference. The firefighters, George Chad Satcher, 53, and Landon Cale Bodie, 18, were killed after a tree fell on their fire truck, according to the county coroner, Keith Turner.

Also in Saluda County, two people died in their home, one from a fallen tree, the coroner said.

Virginia

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the state had suffered one storm-related death, caused by a “tree fall and building collapse” in Craig County, which is near Roanoke.

Hank Sanders, Isabella Kwai, and Corina Knoll contributed reporting.