Mocs News Reporting the news that matters most to UTC
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (mocsnews.com)- Hurricane Helene struck the southeastern United States on Thursday, September 26, 2024. The Category 4 hurricane slammed into Florida and caused damage through Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Carolinas.
According to NBC News, Over 200 people have died in the aftermath of Helene, and more than half of these deaths are from North Carolina. Officials have declared that hundreds are still missing.
Megan Drye lost her 7-year-old son and both of her parents during the storm. To escape the flooding, the family of four climbed onto the home’s roof. However, the home split.
“I think all of them carried me through that moment,” Drye told Fox News. “My grief today is unfathomable. I’m sorrowful. I feel broken.”
Significant flooding caused damage through many counties across many states. Many states had roads closed due to flooding, debris, fallen trees, and downed power lines. However; it seems that Western North Carolina has been hit the hardest.
Cities such as Asheville, Cherokee, and Chimney Rock Village were submerged and demolished after rain from Helene. All three cities faced catastrophic damages, buildings were destroyed, roads and railroads were washed away, and many people lost their family and friends.
According to ABC News, areas in North Carolina received up to a foot of rainfall prior to when Helene struck. Due to the mountain topography, areas were hit with more rain for longer periods, which caused the inevitable flooding in the lower mountainous regions.
Due to the storm, most of North Carolina has been cut-off from the rest of the world. Citizens were stranded on their mountainside properties due to mudslides or have been picking through the remains of their homes and cities.
More than half a million people across the Southeastern United States are still without power. Duke Energy says that around 2.1 million outages have been repaired, there are still roughly 170,000 outages left to repair in the Western regions.
Dolly Parton declared on Friday, October 4 that she would donate $1 million in a $10 million partnership with Walmart to help hurricane relief funds.
“This is my home,” Parton said. “This is a time for me to step up again, for all of us to step up and do what we can.”
Aid from the federal and state governments along with local communities continue to pour in, in hopes of getting the victims of Hurricane Helene back on their feet.
