Following the widespread destruction of Hurricane Helene, the death toll has climbed to at least 213 people across six states. According to US Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, as many as 600 people remain missing or unaccounted for as of Monday afternoon. Countless families are left to wonder whether their loved ones have survived, due to the devastation of communication infrastructure in Helene’s wake. Helene initially made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds, before tearing its way through the southeastern United States and rendering numerous communities unrecognizable. It is now the deadliest hurricane to impact the United States mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shared that “climate change may have caused as much as 50% more rainfall during Hurricane Helene in some parts of Georgia and the Carolinas.” In this particular study, it was also estimated that rainfall was “made up to 20 times more likely” because of global warming.
Supplies have been transported by plane, truck, and mule to hard-hit North Carolina, where many residents are left without electricity and have struggled for basic necessities such as food, clean drinking water and cellular service. Most of North Carolina’s 56 deaths took place in its western region. At least 40 people were killed in Buncombe County alone, which includes the city of Asheville, now submerged in floodwater. Asheville’s mayor expects that the death toll will continue to rise. CNN claims that “the true scale of [Helene’s] devastation” is yet to be seen.
Learn more about how to help Hurricane Helene victims here.
