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Hurricane Helene updates: Death toll surpasses 230 as rescue efforts continue

PHOTO: An aerial view of flood damage along the French Broad River in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Oct. 2, 2024, in Asheville, North Carolina.
4:37
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Tracking Hurricane Helene's destruction
By Emily Shapiro, David Brennan, Leah Sarnoff, Julia Reinstein, Meredith Deliso, Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: October 4, 2024, 8:53 PM
Video by Lilia Geho
Last Updated: October 4, 2024, 8:53 PM

More than 230 people have been killed from Hurricane Helene, which unleashed devastation across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

Helene, which made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a massive Category 4 hurricane, has become the deadliest mainland hurricane since Katrina in 2005.

Latest headlines:

  • 'Your nation has your back,' Joe and Jill Biden tell those in Helene's deadly path
  • White House counters 'disinformation' in the wake of Hurricane Helene
  • Search and rescue efforts still underway in North Carolina
  • DOT announces $100M in emergency relief funds for North Carolina
  • Hundreds of thousands still without power
Here's how the news is developing.

Oct 04, 2024 8:53 PM

Dolly Parton announces donation to areas impacted by Helene

Tennessee native Dolly Parton has pledged a $1 million donation to Hurricane Helene victims.

"These are my mountains … these are my rivers," she told community members gathered in a Newport, Tennessee, Walmart parking lot on Friday.

PHOTO: A flood damaged building and debris left by tropical depression Helene is seen in Newport, Tenn., Sept. 28, 2024.
George Walker IV/AP
A flood damaged building and debris left by tropical depression Helene is seen in Newport, Tenn., Sept. 28, 2024.
George Walker IV/AP

Helene "was devastating," Parton said. "Not just because it was my family, because all these people feel like my people. We all feel related, and we are in some sort of way. So it just devastated me, just to know that we had suffering like that. So anything we can do to help."

Parton's businesses in east Tennessee -- Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show -- as well as The Dollywood Foundation are combining efforts to match Parton’s donation with their own $1 million contribution.

"You just try to step up. God has been good to me and so has the public. And I feel like anything I can do to give back and do what I can, I’m always willing to do that," Parton said as the crowd applauded.

PHOTO: The place where the Jet Broadcasting radio station once stood in Erwin, Tenn., Sept. 29, 2024.
Saul Young/The Knoxville News-Sentinel/USA Today Network via Reuters
The place where the Jet Broadcasting radio station once stood in Erwin, Tenn., Sept. 29, 2024.
Saul Young/The Knoxville News-Sentinel/USA Today Network via Reuters

PHOTO: Rescue helicopters land on the roof of Unicoi Hospital in Erwin, Tenn., Sept. 27, 2024.
Regan Tilson
Rescue helicopters land on the roof of Unicoi Hospital in Erwin, Tenn., Sept. 27, 2024.
Regan Tilson

"We are with you, we love you, we hope that things get better real soon, and we’re gonna do our part," she said.

Walmart also announced a $10 million donation to relief efforts.

-ABC News’ Jianna Cousin


Oct 04, 2024 6:01 PM

1,000 active-duty troops from Fort Liberty arrive in hard-hit western North Carolina

On Friday, 1,000 active-duty U.S. Army troops from Fort Liberty arrived in hard-hit western North Carolina to join the roughly 1,000 North Carolina National Guardsmen already on the ground.

PHOTO: The remnants of a home are seen in Lake Lure, North Carolina, Oct. 2, 2024, after the passage of Hurricane Helene.
Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images
The remnants of a home are seen in Lake Lure, North Carolina, Oct. 2, 2024, after the passage of Hurricane Helene.
Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images

Their responsibilities will "include delivering support and commodities [needed items] to impacted and isolated communities, assisting with supply point logistics at commodity staging locations, and removing debris from affected routes," officials said.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez


Oct 04, 2024 4:08 PM

White House: No funding has been used toward migrants instead of hurricane relief

The White House continues to push back on the false narrative from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to run out of money for Hurricane Helene relief because of funding to programs that support migrants.

"This is FALSE," senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in a memo circulated to reporters on Friday. "No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants housing and services. None. At. All."

PHOTO: People clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C.
Jeff Roberson/AP
People clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C.
Jeff Roberson/AP

Bates said funding for migrant services is run through a separate spigot at Customs and Border Protection, and ultimately administered by FEMA, but that it's in "no way related" to FEMA's hurricane recovery efforts, which are plentiful for immediate Helene response.

"FEMA has the funds it needs for immediate response and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene," he wrote.

PHOTO: Construction and utility crews work to restore a water main and destroyed road in the aftermath of catastrophic flooding caused by Tropical Storm Helene in Swannanoa, NC, Oct. 3, 2024.
Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Construction and utility crews work to restore a water main and destroyed road in the aftermath of catastrophic flooding caused by Tropical Storm Helene in Swannanoa, NC, Oct. 3, 2024.
Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

FEMA does need more funding to sustain that support, though.

"To be clear: the Biden-Harris Administration has sought additional disaster funds for a year to ensure that FEMA has the resources it needs in the face of increasingly frequent severe weather events across the country," Bates said. "We’re glad to see Congressional Republicans finally joining our calls."

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said after touring hurricane damage that Congress should allocate more money to FEMA, one week after he voted against $18.8 billion for the agency.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett



Oct 04, 2024 2:17 PM

Hundreds of thousands still without power in the South

Hundreds of thousands of customers in the South are still without power over one week after Hurricane Helene made landfall.

PHOTO: Residents walk along Flat Creek Road, which was partially washed out and impassable from flood waters, Oct. 2, 2024, in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
Residents walk along Flat Creek Road, which was partially washed out and impassable from flood waters, Oct. 2, 2024, in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

More than 277,000 customers are in the dark in South Carolina and 230,000 are without power in North Carolina.

Another 200,000 are without power in Georgia.

"This has been a historic storm. We've never seen anything like this," Duke Energy spokesperson Bill Norton said. “The biggest challenge has been the unprecedented flooding. It’s not just poles and wires that are down -- it's the backbone of our system, the transmission infrastructure and substations."

PHOTO: Brian McCormack pauses after using a wheelbarrow to clean up debris left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Oct. 1, 2024, in Marshall, N.C.
Jeff Roberson/AP
Brian McCormack pauses after using a wheelbarrow to clean up debris left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Oct. 1, 2024, in Marshall, N.C.
Jeff Roberson/AP

Duke Energy has a "crew of 21,000 line workers, vegetation crews and more across the Carolinas," Norton said.

In North Carolina, crews have repaired more than 1.2 million power outages and are on track to restore an additional 27,000 customers by Friday night and another 69,000 in the hardest-hit areas by Sunday evening, Norton said on Friday.

The water line is almost to the top of the substation that serves Biltmore Village, North Carolina, and the substation will take three to four months to repair, Norton said.

Crews have wheeled in a 200,000-pound mobile substation to serve in the interim, Norton said, noting that it was a "slow, meticulous" process to get the mobile substation to the region because crews had to make sure the bridges hit by Helene could withstand it.

The mobile substation "will effectively allow us to bypass the substation for the next three to four months as we level it and build it again on higher ground," Norton said. "Those customers will have power even as we rebuild that substation."


Sep 29, 2024 3:36 PM

Rescue and recovery operations ongoing in hard-hit Asheville, North Carolina

In hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, which encompasses Asheville, Sunday’s clear skies "will help our crews continue intense rescue and recovery operations," county manager Avril Pinder said.

PHOTO:  Heavy rains from hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage in Asheville, NC, Sept. 28, 2024.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
Heavy rains from hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage in Asheville, NC, Sept. 28, 2024.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

"We’re still dealing with mudslides, flooded areas and stranded individuals. Our priority remains saving every person we can," she said. "Wellness checks will have to wait."

Ten people in Buncombe County have been killed by Hurricane Helene, Sheriff Quentin Miller said.

"Our hearts are broken," he said. "We’ve lost friends, family and neighbors."

PHOTO: Men inspect the damage from flooding in the Biltmore Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC, Sept. 28, 2024.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Men inspect the damage from flooding in the Biltmore Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC, Sept. 28, 2024.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Several roads have washed away, hampering the ability for officials to set up food and water distribution sites.

"We’ve got private helicopters dropping food at key locations," said Anthony Penland, fire chief in Swannanoa, just outside of Asheville. "But we still need the community to come together and help one another."

PHOTO: Flood waters from the French Broad River cover the River Arts District in Asheville, NC, Sept. 28, 2024.
Jacob Biba/Citizen Times/USA Today
Flood waters from the French Broad River cover the River Arts District in Asheville, NC, Sept. 28, 2024.
Jacob Biba/Citizen Times/USA Today

"We intend to have water services available soon, but we're asking for one more day of patience," Pinder said.

"We’re all going to need to lift each other up to get through this," she added.

-ABC News’ Jason Volack


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