Southeast US reels as ‘Helene’ deaths top 210
A destroyed home in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on September 30, 2024 near Black Mountain, North Carolina. --AFP
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA—More than 210 people are now confirmed dead after Hurricane “Helene” carved a path of destruction through several US states, officials said Thursday, making it the second deadliest storm to hit the US mainland in more than half a century.
A compilation of official figures by AFP confirms 212 fatalities across North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.
More than half of the deaths were in flood-ravaged North Carolina, which is experiencing an unprecedented disaster described by some as postapocalyptic.
Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the US mainland since 2005’s “Katrina,” which killed 1,392 people.
