Helene latest: At least 64 dead, up to $26 billion in property damage

The death toll continues to climb and some 2.5 million people remained without power Sunday as recovery in the Southeast US begins from devastating Hurricane Helene.

The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, was expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. President Joe Biden said Helene’s devastation has been “overwhelming” and pledged to send help. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funding available for affected individuals.

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At least 64 people had died in the storm, which hit the Big Bend region of Florida Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane and ravaged parts of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. At least 25 of the deaths reported were in South Carolina.

In Atlanta, 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain fell over 48 hours, the most the city has been seen over two days since record keeping began in 1878.

Among the 11 confirmed deaths in Florida were nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation area on the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.

None of the victims were from Taylor County, which is where the storm made landfall. It came ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of where Hurricane Idalia hit last year at nearly the same ferocity.

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Western North Carolina was isolated because of landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. All those closures delayed the start of the East Tennessee State University football game against The Citadel because the Buccaneers’ drive to Charleston, South Carolina, took 16 hours.

Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Helene in the US is between $95 billion and $110 billion.

Asheville, North Carolina hit hard

Helene unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina, leaving Asheville, the state’s largest mountain city, under water and isolated with no power and impassable roads.

The number of deaths in Buncombe County is unclear: Emergency Services Director Van Taylor Jones said he wasn’t ready to report specifics, partially because downed cell towers hindered efforts to contact next of kin. Relatives put out desperate pleas for help on Facebook.

The hub of tourism and arts, home to about 94,000 people, was unusually still after floodwaters swamped neighborhoods known for drawing visitors including Biltmore Village and the River Arts District, which is home to numerous galleries, shops and breweries.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said supplies were being airlifted to that part of the state. Buncombe County officials said Interstate 26 between Asheville and South Carolina had reopened, but most other routes into the city were impassible.

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More than 700,000 customers were without power across North Carolina, including about 100,000 in Buncombe County.

In Asheville, there was no cellular service and no timeline for restoration. Residents were also directed to boil their water. Local officials said they were working on setting up hubs to distribute food and water.

Another mountain community, Spruce Pine, was doused with over 2 feet of rain from Tuesday through Saturday.

As of Saturday night, the governor’s office confirmed 10 storm deaths statewide but did not provide a breakdown of where they occurred.