Shocking photos show how a picturesque North Carolina village was almost destroyed by Hurricane Helene – as the death toll from the storm neared 100, with desperate rescue operations continuing across the south-west on Monday.
It initially appeared that Chimney Rock escaped the wrath of Helene – until floodwaters overtopped a dam on Saturday, flooding the area and destroying almost everything. The News & Observer noted,
“The village? There’s just nothing left,” rescue team leader Chris Murray told the outlet.
“I’ve never seen concentrated damage like we’ve seen here.”
Helene devastated six states, first making landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, and left millions without power and communications. But North Carolina was hardest hit, with at least 30 of the nearly 100 dead coming from the Tar Heel state, while hundreds are still missing.
In Chimney Rock, photos show a once-idyllic village covered in mud and debris, with about half the businesses on the southern edge of town near the Broad River gone due to heavy flooding.
“The damage is unimaginable,” Pamlico County rescue workers said over the weekend.
scary video Shown set to the sound of a loud siren Hurricane Helen’s massive flood waters are wreaking havoc Village on Saturday.
clip It begins with a powerful wave of muddy water flooding a yard at Chimney Rock, tearing a house to pieces and carrying the debris into the tide.
“My car is gone. Everything is over. It’s all over,” the unidentified filmmaker can be heard saying, while the second person quickly reassures them, “It’s okay.”
The flood waters were so strong that SUVs and roads were swept away and destroyed.
Meanwhile, other parts of the southwest were devastated by the storm, prompting massive rescue efforts.
FEMA Administrator Dean Criswell visited South Georgia on Sunday and planned to be in North Carolina on Monday.
“This is still an active search and rescue mission” in western North Carolina, Criswell said. “And we know there are many communities that are cut off just because of the geography of the mountains”, where some areas have been cut off due to damage to roads and bridges.
The North Carolina county, which includes the mountain city of Asheville, reported 30 deaths due to the storm, and several other deaths Sunday in North Carolina brought the total across several states to at least 91 .
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper predicted the death toll would rise as rescue teams and other emergency workers reached isolated areas beset by collapsed roads, failed infrastructure and widespread flooding.
The area around the isolated city was being supplied by air. Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder pledged that they would get food and water to Asheville by Monday.
“My staff is making every possible request to the state for assistance and we are working with every organization that has contacted us. I promise you we’re very close,” Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said on a call with reporters Sunday.
He asked residents of western North Carolina to avoid travel as more than 50 search teams remained spread across the region looking for stranded people.
A rescue effort north of Asheville included the rescue of 41 people. Another mission focused on saving an infant. North Carolina National Guard Adjutant General Todd Hunt said teams found people through both 911 calls and social media messages.
Heavy storm surge also occurred in Tampa Bay, Florida, causing water to reach people’s rooftops.
More than 11 inches of rain fell in Atlanta, more than any 48-hour period in history. So many trees were downed in South Carolina that more than 40 percent of the state lost power.
A 27-year-old mother and her 1-month-old twins were among more than 20 people killed in Georgia when trees fell on their home in Thomson, just west of Augusta, on Friday.
“I currently have 2 people on oxygen who need a generator and 1 person on dialysis who needs a generator. Is any powerful person willing to lend his generators? I will arrange for delivery and return,” Representative Neil Collins of South Carolina written on xIs urging users to reach out to him so that he can begin rescue efforts.
President Biden on Saturday pledged the federal government’s help responding to the “enormous” devastation caused by Helen. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funding available for affected individuals.
with post wires
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