From killing at least 44 people across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia and tearing apart countless homes, Hurricane Helene has left an enormous path of destruction in the United States. Extensive rescue operations are underway across states in a bid to save people from the deadly aftermath of the catastrophic storm.
According to the Associated Press, among the deceased were three firefighters, a woman and her one-month-old twins, and an 89-year-old woman whose house was struck by a falling tree. As per Moody's Analytics, property damage worth 15 billion to 26 billion US dollars have been reported.
Several videos made rounds on social media showing the devastating impact of the hurricane across states in the southeastern region of the nation. It has been reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency headed to the affected area and deployed over 1,500 workers.
Taking cognisance of the devastating impacts of the hurricane, President Joe Biden on Friday said he was praying for survivors. "Last night, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm. I've approved emergency requests in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and deployed 1,500 response personnel – my Administration stands ready to provide more support as needed", Biden added.
Huge trail of destruction across states: Key points
The storm made landfall late Thursday in a sparsely populated region in Florida's rural Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways.
According to official data, over 3 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas as of late Friday. Outages were reported from as far north as Ohio and Indiana as well due to Helene's rapid northward movement throughout the day.
The massive hurricane caused power outage to a number of some hospitals in southern Georgia. According to the officials, the authorities had to use chainsaws to clear debris and open up roads.
In Georgia, over 100 high voltage transmission lines have been damaged while in South Carolina, where over 40 percdent of customers were without power, said crews who had to cut their way through debris.
The rapid wind movement brought the hurricane to northeast Tennessee as well. In a serious rescue operation by helicopter, 54 people were rescued who earlier were moved to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital as the facility got inundated with floodwater.
As a consequence of the hurricane, Atlanta received its all-time high 28.24 centimetres of rain in 48 hours surpassing the previous figure of 24.36 cm that was set in 1886.
