Helene causes life-threatening flooding, kills dozens, threatens to cause dam failure in Tennessee
Helen continues to spark outrage across the Southeast after the historic storm was described as powerful Thursday evening, taking at least 49 lives in multiple states, leveling communities, causing power outages and leaving many people stranded in floodwaters.
Helen continues to spark outrage across the Southeast after the historic storm was described as powerful Thursday evening, taking at least 49 lives in multiple states, leveling communities, causing power outages and leaving many people stranded in floodwaters. The Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region.
• Deaths in Five States: Storm-related deaths were reported in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. At least 19 people were killed in South Carolina, including two firefighters who died in Saluda County, according to state officials. At least 15 people were killed in Georgia, including two killed in the Alamo River tornado, according to a spokesman for Gov. Brian Kemp. Florida authorities reported eight deaths, including several who drowned in Pinellas County. Six more deaths were reported in North Carolina, including a 4-year-old girl killed in a car crash on slick roads caused by the storm. And one person died in Craig County, Virginia, when the storm caused trees and a collapsed building, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.
• DAM NEAR FAILURE: A flash flood emergency has been declared until 8 a.m. ET for parts of Cocke, Greene and Hamblen counties in eastern Tennessee. The emergency is about an impending dam failure on the Nolichucky River below Nolichucky Dam. "Dam managers have reported imminent failure of Nolichucky Dam," the National Weather Service said in a flood emergency report. Several rivers in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee have risen rapidly. Although the heaviest rains have passed, another 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) of rain is expected this weekend. It could take hours to days for river levels to drop below critical water levels. If the dam were to fail, flooding could create "extremely dangerous and life-threatening conditions," the weather service said.
• More rain in the forecast: More rain is expected this weekend in parts of the southern Appalachians. Areas in western North Carolina, including Asheville, and eastern Tennessee, including Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, are expected to see rainfall totals of up to an inch. Parts of Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania could see up to two inches through Monday. The National Weather Service office in Greenville-Spartanburg said Saturday morning that "rainfall amounts will be light, but isolated excess runoff is possible in areas that received excessive rainfall from Helen."
• Storm rescue efforts underway: Nearly 4,000 National Guard troops conducted rescue efforts in 21 counties across Florida, the Defense Department announced Friday. North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama also activated their National Guard troops. Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that the Biden administration had mobilized more than 1,500 federal officers to help communities affected by Helene.
• Severe flooding in North Carolina: Helene “is one of the worst storms in modern history for parts of North Carolina,” Gov. Roy Cooper said. Western parts of the state were slammed by heavy rains and strong winds bordering on hurricane-strength levels, life-threatening flash flooding, numerous landslides and power outages. More than 100 people were rescued from high waters, the governor said. More than 2 feet of rain fell in the state’s mountainous region from Wednesday morning to Friday morning, with Busick recording a total of 29.58 inches in just 48 hours. In the hard-hit city of Asheville, a citywide curfew is in effect until 7:30 a.m. Saturday, officials said. About 20 miles southwest of Asheville, overwhelming, torrential rainfall was pushing the Lake Lure Dam into “imminent failure,” according to the National Weather Service.
• More than 3 million without power: The remnants of Helene continued to knock out power for several states across the eastern US on Saturday morning, with nearly 3.3 million customers left in the dark in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio, according to PowerOutage.us.
• The threat isn’t over: Helene’s remnants will continue to bring rain and gusty winds over hundreds of miles of the East. Multiple states have recorded more than a foot of rain, with at least 14 different flash flood emergencies issued for approximately 1.1 million people in the Southern Appalachians of Western North Carolina and adjacent parts of Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia. In addition to the rainfall, winds continued to gust 30 to 50 mph over the Ohio and Tennessee Valley regions Friday evening and more than 35 million people were under wind alerts heading into Saturday.
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