Search for Hurricane Helene victims enters second week as death toll rises

The search for Hurricane Helene's victims entered its second week on Friday, with rescue teams and volunteers still trying to reach those cut off by the storm's destruction.

Sheriff Quentin Miller of Buncombe County, North Carolina, reassured residents at a press briefing on Thursday evening. He said: "We know these are hard times, but please know we're coming. We're coming to get you. We're coming to pick up our people."

Helene has been confirmed as the deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland since Katrina in 2005, with a death toll of at least 215. The number of people still missing remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from dozens to hundreds.

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North Carolina accounts for approximately half of the fatalities, with additional losses reported in South Carolina and Georgia.

In Buncombe County, which encompasses Asheville, a major tourist destination and the area's largest city, the death count reached 72 by Thursday evening, according to Sheriff Miller. Despite the grim statistics, he expressed hope that many of the missing might still be found alive.

To those still unaccounted for, Miller said: "Your safety and well-being are our highest priority. And we will not rest until you are secure and that you are being cared for."

Now more than a week since the storm roared onto Florida’s Gulf Coast, lack of phone service and electricity continues to hinder efforts to contact the missing. That means search crews must trudge through the mountains to learn whether residents are safe.

In the Blue Ridge Mountains along North Carolina's Cane River, the Pensacola Volunteer Fire Department fought their way through dense woodland on Thursday, almost a week after intense flooding devastated the area.

The community of Pensacola, nestled just miles from Mount Mitchell the highest peak east of the Mississippi has seen an indeterminate number of its population go missing, according to Mark Harrison, chief medical officer of the fire department.

"We're starting to do recovery," Harrison announced. "We've got the most critical people out."

By the Tennessee border, emergency teams have begun navigating the maze of secondary roads after finally clearing main thoroughfares, finding conditions even more demanding. These minor routes are full of tight turns and finely constructed bridges that pose a significant challenge, particularly under adverse weather.

"Everything is fine and then they come around a bend and the road is gone and it's one big gully or the bridge is gone," Charlie Wallin, a Watauga County commissioner, said of the daunting scene. "We can only get so far."

Each day there are further requests to check on individuals yet to make contact, with no clear conclusion to the search efforts in sight. "You hope you're getting closer, but it's still hard to know," Mr Wallin added.

Electricity is gradually being restored, with the number of homes and businesses without power falling below one million on Thursday for the first time since last weekend, according to poweroutage.us.

The majority of these outages are in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Hurricane Helene hit after making landfall in Florida on September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane.

President Joe Biden surveyed the damage in North and South Carolina from the air on Wednesday. The administration has pledged federal support to cover the costs of debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months in North Carolina and three months in Georgia. This funding will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and will cover the costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters and mass feeding.