Helene live updates: Southeast reels from deadly storm damage and heavy flooding

Amid a rising death toll, cellphone service outages and washed-out roadways, the White House today sought to reassure hurricane survivors the federal response is sizable.

In a statement, the White House noted that 4,500 federal personnel were assigned to Helene rescue and recovery efforts, including about 1,000 from FEMA.

The agency has distributed more than 7.1. million meals, 6.5 million liters of water, 150 generators and more than 200,000 tarps as of today, the White House said.

Biden is set to visit North Carolina tomorrow to survey damage, and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell "will remain in North Carolina" to oversee federal assistance, the agency said.

Forty-one counties in Georgia today were added to the areas in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina placed under federal declarations of major disaster, which allows those affected by Helene to immediately apply to FEMA for help, the White House said.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra yesterday declared a public health emergency for South Carolina and Tennessee, which will share the status with Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, it said. The declaration makes it easier for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries affected by the storm to get care and medicine, the White House said.

People waited in an around-the-corner line today outside Asheville's Mellow Mushroom as it dished out free slices to do its part in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

The city was hit hard by the storm, mostly by floodwaters that knocked out its water system and washed out roads, temporarily isolating Asheville.

Mellow Mushroom's owner Gerry Mahon said he would give away $5,000 worth of pizza.

The location, one of multiple Mellow Mushroom restaurants in the Southeast, is without water, so Mahon said he hauled in water from his home outside Asheville.

He said it's the least he could do knowing the extent of storm-related devastation, including 57 dead in the Asheville region, an unknown number of properties destroyed, and ongoing searches by survivors for loved ones who have lost contact amid cellphone outages.

“This is for them, knowing what they have been through," Mahon said. "We’re going to do this for as long as we can, because these people, so many of them, have seen things that you and I should never wish to see. So that’s why we do this.”

The storm-related death toll in North Carolina's hardest-hit county is now 57, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said during a news conference today.

"I have done the unfortunate task and confirmed now that we have a total of 57," he said.

The county includes the city of Asheville, which was devastated by Helene. The storm temporarily isolated the city and left it largely without potable tap water, officials have said.

Authorities are still processing dozens of missing persons reports, with some likely to be confirmed as deaths and increasing the fatality number.

The county death toll comprises most of the storm-related fatalities in North Carolina and is likely to boost the total number of deaths related to last week's storm significantly.

Before today's announcement, Buncombe County was the site of 40 of North Carolina's 49 confirmed deaths. The storm total for fatalities in the Southeast was 134 before Miller announced the new figure for the county.

With the deadline to register to vote 10 days away, North Carolina election officials said in a statement today that 12 county election offices in the flood-damaged western region of the state remain closed.

Assessment of how to proceed was underway, the North Carolina Board of Elections said: "As the county offices get back up and running, they will begin to assess early voting sites and Election Day polling places to see the extent of the damage and which facilities won’t be available."

One solution is being deployed — so called "election offices in a box," emergency kits sent to three or four hard-hit counties that will allow the process to move forward without reliance on damaged offices, the internet or phone service, the board said.

There is concern that some of the 190,000 ballots mailed to registered voters last week may have been lost or destroyed amid Helene and the aftermath. Voters whose ballots were lost can cancel them and request new ballots or vote in person at select locations starting Oct. 17.

Atlantic hurricane season is far from done, and forecasters are predicting a flurry of activity in the coming days and weeks. 

In a new forecast, Colorado State University forecasters said they had “virtual certainty” that Atlantic hurricane activity would be above normal in the next two weeks. The forecasters expect an above average October and November for activity in the Caribbean. 

The forecast accounts for all hurricane and tropical storm activity in the Atlantic ocean and doesn’t predict where storms will make landfall, meaning some of these storms won’t have major implications for the U.S. 

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is currently tracking three disturbances. 

Two more deaths were confirmed in Pinellas County, Florida, today, bringing the Helene death toll in the state to 14. 

Of the Florida fatalities, two were in Tampa, one in Dixie County and 11 in Pinellas county.

Helene's death toll now stands at 134 across six states, according to a count by NBC News.

The Helene death toll in South Carolina has risen to 36, the state’s department of public safety said as of noon. 

That brings the total storm death toll to 132 across six states, according to a count by NBC News.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia tomorrow to survey the damage of Hurricane Helene, the White House announced today. 

Once there, she’ll receive a briefing about recovery efforts. She’ll also provide updates on federal actions supporting emergency response and recovery efforts in Georgia and other Southeast states. 

During remarks yesterday at FEMA headquarters, she said the Biden-Harris administration “will continue to do everything we can to help you recover and to help you rebuild — no matter how long it takes.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas joins Ana Cabrera to give an update on the recovery efforts in the Southeast after Hurricane Helene left communities reeling and with devastating damage.

The Red Cross has received 3,000 new requests from people looking for loved ones in the past 24 hours, FEMA officials said in a briefing this afternoon. 

There are 3,500 federal personnel on the ground supporting recovery efforts across impacted states, including 1,000 from FEMA. Thus far, over 1.9 million meals, over 1 million liters of water, over 95,000 tarps, over 30 generators and 150 ambulances have also been shipped, a FEMA spokesperson said. 

There are also over 1,250 urban search and rescue personnel assisting local first responders in impacted states. Emergency response officials are also bringing in a mobile morgue to assure facilities are being properly managed, though it's not yet clear where that will be placed.

A grassroots effort led by relief organization Operation Airdrop has put together a group of private helicopters to aid victims affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. Pilot Matt McSwain said volunteers from Texas to Maine are lining up to help deliver supplies and survey damaged areas. WCNC’s Vanessa Ruffes reports.

Four students at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, narrowly escaped raging floodwaters on Friday after onlookers stepped in and came to their rescue.

The students got trapped in sophomore Avery Paner’s car as Hurricane Helene’s deluge and floodwaters inundated their community. Video showed the muddy waters rising around them as the students yell, “Go go go!” 

“The car was filling in with murky, brown water so I couldn’t reach my window breaker, I couldn’t see anything, nobody could see anything,” Paner told NBC affiliate WCNC of Charlotte.

Then a tree fell on top of her car and it started to sink into the mud underneath. 

The Helene death toll rose to 33 in South Carolina, the state's Public Safety Department said in a press release today. Previously, it stood at 29. 

That brings Helene’s storm-related death count to at least 129 across six states, according to a count by NBC News. 

In a post-storm briefing this morning, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the devastation of Helene “beyond belief.”

“Communities were wiped off the map. Dozens of lives lost. Hundreds of roads remain damaged or impassable. Communication has been difficult due to cellphone and power outages,” he said.

More than 360,000 in the state remain without power as of 11 a.m. ET, more than 1,100 people have been housed in 11 different shelters, more than 400 roads are closed or impassable, and some parts of western North Carolina have still not been reached by responders.

There are 92 search and rescue teams continuing to work in the state. The state’s National Guard has already rescued an estimated 500 people, officials said. Ground forces are expected to push further into the western part of the state and guardsmen should be in every affected county by this afternoon.

Officials noted that the stall in power and cell service has made it difficult for people to reach their missing loved ones. The American Red Cross has set up a reunification website for Helene-impacted southeastern state. 

The western North Carolina town of Canton is working to restore utilities after being inundated by Helene’s floodwaters. An emergency water station has been set up for residents.

Kim Ashby, a North Carolina middle school teacher, was last seen floating in a river after her home was swept away in Helene floodwaters, her family says.

Ashby had gone with her husband to their vacation property near the Elk River to remove valuables when Helene hit the region last week, her daughter Jessica Meidinger, told NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh.

When Ashby’s husband opened the front door Friday, he saw "a quarter of the house had already been washed away" in the surging river, Meidinger said. “As soon as he saw that, he was running inside and told her to get dressed,” she added.

But it was too late. The Elk River soon after pulled the house off its foundation and swept it away.

A public health emergency was declared today for South Carolina and Tennessee, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced.

It follows similar declarations for Florida, Georgia and North Carolina to address the "health impacts" of Hurricane Helene.

“We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as with our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support,” Becerra said in a statement. 

Public health emergency declarations give health care providers and suppliers “greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries,” the statement said.

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, under HHS, has deployed 200 personnel, including health care situational assessment teams that will assess Helene’s impacts to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities. 

Angel Mitchell was visiting her mother at Unicoi County Hospital in Tennessee when floodwaters forced patients and staff to be airlifted from the roof. Mitchell said she felt like hospital leaders waited too long before evacuating and feared she would drown.

The last 48 hours have produced many stories of everyday people becoming heroes, saving the lives of those around them.

Few are as daring as that of Eddie Hunnell, who dived straight into a fast-moving river in North Carolina swollen by floodwaters to rescue a woman who had been swept away in her own home.

Video obtained by NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh shows people by the riverbank shouting “Jump!” as an entire house floats by.

Then Hunnell dives into the water in Grassy Creek, Ashe County, with a life vest and a rope to retrieve the woman, Lesley Worth, who exited the house and was floating away downstream.

Jay Carter, the CEO of Halo Relief, a volunteer disaster relief organization, is on the ground with teams in North Carolina and described the challenges in reaching hard-hit communities.

"The water is obviously an issue here. It still hasn’t completely subsided. You have mud, rocks, and with all of that you have all the debris from the towns and the destruction — all this mixed together just makes it pretty complicated," Carter told NBC News Now this morning.

"We have some pretty big trucks here that can get through some of the mud, some of the water, but when you mix that with rocks and debris, it makes it really difficult to get to these areas. The hands on from the guys, the teams here with us, going out and pulling this debris out. It’s a long process, honestly, just to get a few miles down the road," he added.

He said the biggest needs of the organization and state are food and water, as well as generators as many towns are still without power.

Firefighters in the stricken city of Asheville, North Carolina, have asked that residents understand the sheer size of the task facing them, as crew works to remove debris and begin the recovery.

The Asheville Fire Department shared the picture seen below on X this morning, adding: "The picture shows the access road to Bee Tree. Let's show some appreciation to our active crews as they work to fix our city."

Only 6% of U.S. homeowners have flood insurance but even an inch of water in your home can cause up to $25,000 worth of damage. With storms like Hurricane Helene getting stronger, experts say many people nationwide do not have the coverage they need. NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reports for "TODAY."

The remnants of Hurricane Helene are still causing dangerous weather situations, bringing the chance of heavy rain and flash flooding to the mid-Atlantic, the National Weather Service said in an update this morning.

The agency has warned there is a 1 in 4 chance of excessive rain. "The associated heavy rain will create localized areas of flash flooding, affecting areas that experience rapid runoff with heavy rain," it said.

Devastation is only mounting across the Southeast in the wake of Hurricane Helene with entire towns decimated by one of the worst storms in the U.S. The death toll is now at more than 120 people and many others are still unaccounted for. The "TODAY" show’s Craig Melvin reports.

People are stranded in mountain towns across western North Carolina and desperately need help and evacuations, one woman told NBC News last night.

Alyse Adams said her children's mimi (grandmother) was cut off along with some friends near the town of Spruce Pine, northeast of Ashville.

"They are elderly, they are also senior veterans and they need supplies. They were barely able to get supplies up there and the only way out is to be airlifted and this is happening all over these counties," Adams said.

"Her home is gone, her cars are gone, her cats are gone. This has been absolutely devastating, they have nothing."

Asheville and its surrounding towns in western North Carolina had just been soaked by a severe rainstorm when the remnants of Hurricane Helene slammed into the Blue Ridge Mountains.

What unfolded, starting Wednesday evening and lasting through the weekend, is a well-studied atmospheric phenomenon. 

“As weather moves in toward the mountains, the clouds have to rise up and over the mountains, and that’s the upslope effect,” said Doug Outlaw, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the agency’s office in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“It tends to squeeze out more rainfall, and unfortunately, it caused extreme flash flooding, which devastated communities. It was a huge amount of water at one time being channeled and funneled through the valleys.”

Read the full article here.

Long lines for gas. Shelters at capacity. More than 300 road closings. A severely damaged water system that could take weeks to repair. 

Hundreds of miles from where it made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend, Hurricane Helene caused unprecedented damage in western North Carolina, where at least 49 people have died and dozens of others are missing. 

“The devastation was beyond belief,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference yesterday afternoon. “And even when you prepare for something like this, this is something that’s never happened before in western North Carolina.”

Read the full article here.

Helene was most destructive in Asheville, North Carolina, and surrounding Buncombe County, where at least 40 people have been killed amid destroyed properties and washed out roads.

“This is the biggest test we’ve ever faced,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said last night on NBC News “Stay Tuned NOW.”

A vehicle lies nose-first in a river surrounded by debris yesterday after Hurricane Helene ripped through Asheville, North Carolina.

For many families waiting for the lights to come back on, the wait continues.

More than 1.6 million energy customers are without power as of 4.30 a.m. ET today, according to PowerOutage.us. This is a big drop from the 4 million customers without power in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene hitting Florida last Thursday.

But that will be small comfort to the 632,000 customers in North Carolina with no power, nor the 471,000 in Georgia.

Florida's energy network has largely recovered, with 69,000 customers out this morning.

Desperate family members were waiting for word on more than 150 people still missing after flooding hit Tennessee. Some of missing were in a plastics factory that was flooded. Officials said the operation has shifted to a recovery effort. NBC News' Priscilla Thompson reports. 

More than 100 people are reported dead in a number of states after Hurricane Helene swept through the Southeast, causing widespread damage and devastating flooding. Officials say thousands of people have still not been in touch with their loved ones. NBC News George Solis from hard-hit Asheville, N.C.