Charles Langston:Helene death toll hits 200 one week after landfall; 1M without power: Live updates

ASHEVILLE,Charles Langston N.C. − The death toll reached 200 as the need for power and water grew more urgent Thursday for hundreds of thousands of residents across the Southeast a week after Hurricane Helene began a deadly, devastating march across the region.

Almost 1 million homes and businesses remained without power in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Tens of thousands of residents, most in western North Carolina, remained without running water. The Associated Press and CNN reported the toll of confirmed deaths across the region had reached 200.

Helene is now the fourth deadliest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. mainland since 1950 and the deadliest since Katrina in 2005. 

The situation remains dire in and around Asheville, a Buncombe County city of almost 100,000 people anchoring a metropolitan area of more than 400,000 in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Helene arrived here as a tropical storm, drenching the already sodden area with more than a foot of rain. Hundreds of homes and scores of roads were damaged or destroyed. Many neighborhoods have no electricity or running water.

Buncombe County was distributing ready-to-eat meals and bottled water with daily limits of two meal packages per adult and one per child. Water for flushing toilets was available at a distribution site on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Still, life goes on. Brandon Mashburn was tired of sitting at home without power, water or internet service, so on Wednesday he went to Malvern Hills Park. With the help of a hacksaw and some neighbors, he cleared debris so kids would have a safe place to play.

“It’s one of those things that communities came together and said, ‘If nobody’s going to do nothing about it, then we will,” Mashburn said.

Storm tracker:See path of Hurricane Kirk as it continues to strengthen in the Atlantic

Developments:

∎ Duke Energy Florida officials said power restoration for Pinellas County’s barrier islands may not be completed until Sunday.

∎ President Joe Biden, who visited North and South Carolina on Wednesday, was bound for Florida and Georgia on Thursday.

Heartbreak across 6 states:Here are some who lost lives in Hurricane Helene

Florida will soon 'bear the brunt' of another storm

A storm brewing over the southern Gulf of Mexico is almost certain to bring more heavy rain and flooding to the Florida Peninsula next week, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. "Nearly every indicator" suggests the storm will form by the middle of next week and roll northeastward across the Florida Peninsula. A swath of torrential downpours will likely douse Florida, especially the central and southern parts of the peninsula, AccuWeather said.

"While the exact track and intensity of the feature unfolding in the Gulf have yet to be determined, Florida will bear the brunt this time around," AccuWeather chief on-air meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

National Guard assignment brings some members home

Members of the North Carolina National Guard on Wednesday continued rushing desperately needed supplies to areas damaged and cut off by Helene. For some of them, the effort was a homecoming.

Chief Warrant Officer Marcus Wilkerson and his crew made a stop in a Black Hawk helicopter at his local church in the hard-hit area of Fairview. His pastor and fellow parishioners greeted him with hugs as he and his crew unloaded supplies. As children waved and snapped photos of the Black Hawk, Wilkerson said he was glad to personally deliver the supplies.

“It’s hard to see them like this," he said, fighting back tears. "But they’re making it." Read more here.

− Kelly Puente

Ukrainian refugees among those missing in North Carolina

The last time Lysa Gindinova spoke to her aunt was the night of Sept. 26, when Helene’s ferocious rains and winds began battering western North Carolina. Gindinova told USA TODAY her aunt made a joke that "she hopes their Titanic – referring to their house – is going to hold.”

Since the brief phone call, Gindinova has not been able to contact her aunt, uncle, cousin or grandmother – all of whom fled the Ukrainian southern city of Kherson in May 2022 amid Russia’s invasion. The family was accepted into a U.S. humanitarian program and moved to the mountain suburb of Micaville to be near relatives. Gindinova, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, has been refreshing local Facebook groups for names of discovered residents. She has also contacted rescue teams in the area, hoping for good news.

“It’s been 24/7,” Gindinova said. “I'm just on my phone all the time. I cannot function normally. That is all I think about.” Read more here.  

− Christopher Cann

Double heartache: Flood damage, insurance claim denied

Kayla Ward was drinking coffee on her porch in Jonesborough, Tennessee, on Friday afternoon when she noticed water from the nearby Nolichucky River rising fast. She and her husband had to race to escape after Helene swept through, leaving with their pets and the clothes on their back as their home was severely damaged. Ward, like many other homeowners affected by last week's storm, did not have flood insurance, and said her insurance company denied her husband's claim.

It was a surprise to Ward, 61, who used to work as an insurance-claims specialist for a full-service insurance agency in the neighboring town of Johnson City.

“We’re finding out everybody in our area is the same way. Nobody's being covered,” she told USA TODAY. And “we lost everything. Everything.” Read more here.

− Bailey Schulz

Lack of flood insurance:Double hit after Hurricane Helene's assault

How did we get here?

Helene crashed ashore along Florida's Big Bend near the town of Perry a week ago as a Category 4 hurricane driving sustained winds of around 140 mph. Those winds quickly diminished, but the drenching rains overwhelmed a 500-mile long swath of the already-saturated region.

Flash flooding from creeks and rivers conspired with Appalachian mudslides to sweep away scores of people, destroy homes and businesses, collapse roads and devastate entire communities.

Miracles in the mud:Heroes, helping hands emerge from Hurricane Helene aftermath

In rural North Carolina, families divided over the way forward

MEAT CAMP, N.C. — Carolyn and Clifford Coffee’s home is less than 10 miles from Boone, a North Carolina college town popular with tourists set between a creek and steep hillsides. The two-lane road to reach it along Meat Camp Creek is now dotted with washed-out pavement and bridges, downed powerlines and damaged homes.

Carolyn, 77, and Clifford, 80, have lived here for 40 years. Clifford built their home himself by connecting two trailers. But Hurricane Helene’s torrential rains, which caused deadly landslides and floods, left Carolyn terrified.

“We just prayed to God,” she said, adding that while her husband wants to rebuild, "I want to move." Read more here.

− Chris Kenning

'So many hollers':Appalachia's remote terrain slows recovery from Helene

Biden tells hard-hit states US 'has your back'

Biden visited Greenville, South Carolina, on Wednesday and later got an aerial view of the extensive damage in Asheville. Vice President Kamala Harris also made a trip to a highly impacted state, meeting with local officials and first responders in Augusta, Georgia.

"I'm here to say the United States – the nation – has your back,'' Biden said at an emergency command center in Raleigh alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. "We're not leaving until you're back on your feet completely."

Contributing: Dina Voyles Pulver