At least 52 dead, millions without power as Hurricane Helene leaves trail of destruction across southeastern US

Hurricane Helene left a devastating trail of destruction across southeastern US this week — with at least 56 killed and damage worth billions of dollars. The storm blew ashore as a Category 4 hurricane late on Thursday with winds of 140 mph (225 kph). Helene has since left thousands displaced and millions without power.

"The devastation we're witnessing in Hurricane Helene's wake has been overwhelming. Jill and I continue to pray for all of those who have lost loved ones and for everyone impacted by this storm. Early this morning, I approved Tennessee's emergency declaration and my Administration continues to surge response personnel as the storm tracks north. Our focus is on life-saving and life-sustaining response efforts in the Southeast – and I continue to be briefed by my team which is coordinating recovery efforts with state and local officials," wrote President Joe Biden.

The storm moved quickly through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

Now a post-tropical cyclone, it is expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley on Saturday and Sunday. Several flood and flash flood warnings remained in effect in parts of the southern and central Appalachians, while high wind warnings also covered parts of Tennessee and Ohio.

Hurricane Helene has been linked to 56 deaths across five states — including 23 people in South Carolina and 11 in Florida. Authorities however expect the number to rise as they take stock of the devastation.

“What is looks like from the air is it looks like a tornado went off, it looks like a bomb went off. And it’s not just here, it looks like this from here all the way to Augusta,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp told reporters.

Neighbouring Florida reported ‘at least 11 storm-related deaths’ including traffic fatalities and people caught up in storm surge. 

Meanwhile hard-hit Buncombe County in North Carolina is waiting to announce casualties amid connectivity glitches. Authorities said they knew people died but aren’t announcing anything because communication outages haven’t allowed them to reach relatives of the victims. Western North Carolina remains essentially cut off by landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. 

More than three million US customers went into the weekend without any electricity amid a continued threat of flooding. 

There were hundreds of water rescues, none more dramatic than in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from the roof of a hospital that was surrounded by water from a flooded river.

(With inputs from agencies)