(Reuters) – Southeastern U.S. states on Sunday began a massive cleanup and recovery effort after Hurricane Helen’s wind, rain and storm surge left millions without power, destroyed roads and bridges and caused catastrophic flooding from Florida to Virginia.
The storm killed at least 60 people, according to state and local officials in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Officials fear that more bodies will be discovered in several states.
Insurance companies and forecasters said over the weekend that damage estimates ranged from $15 billion to more than $100 billion. Property damage and lost economic output will become more apparent as officials assess the devastation.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deane Criswell on Sunday noted significant damage to water systems, communications and vital transportation routes.
Cristillane said on the “Care of the Nation” program broadcast by the CBS network that the US government has sufficient resources to face the disaster, but the recovery will be difficult.
She added that bottled water has been sent to affected areas and the Army Corps of Engineers will begin assessing damage to water systems on Sunday to help them return to service.
“The recovery can be complicated. These five states are going to have a very complicated recovery,” Creswell said.
An official at the US Energy Ministry said that approximately 2.7 million customers remained electricity on Sunday, a decrease of 40 % from Friday after unprecedented storms, strong winds and risky conditions that spanned hundreds of miles inward.
Hit Florida’s Gulf Coast
Days of heavy rains followed the fall of Hurricane Helen on the coast of the Gulf of Florida on Thursday evening, which led to the destruction of houses that have been in place for decades.
The governor of Florida Ron Desantis said on Saturday that 11 people died in Florida in the city of Perry overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, which has witnessed waves of 15 feet, which is larger than those in hurricanes in recent years.
On the Horschu Beach, on the coast of the Gulf of Florida, about 70 miles west of Ghanzville, Charlin Hugins wiped the debris of its destroyed house, and pulled a jacket from under the rubble on Saturday.
“I lived five generations in this house, from my grandmother, my father, my daughter, my son, and my granddaughter,” said Hugins carrying a broken glass cake holder. “So there are a lot of memories here. It breaks your heart.”
In a place not far, James Ellinberg stood on the property in which his family lived for four generations. “I took my first step here in this courtyard.”
The Meteorological Authority said that in the coastal Stainachi area, the height of the storm – a wall of sea water that the wind pushed to the beach – a height ranging from 2.4 to 3 meters led to moving mobile homes.
The near small Spring Warrior Fish Camp was wiping the damage on Saturday and is still waiting for any emergency or first aid.
“Nobody is thinking about us here,” said David Hall while he and his wife were calling between seaweed and dead fish in the hotel office. Several houses there were built on solid pillars under a local law and were severely damaged.
North Carolina floods
The National Weather Meteorological Center reported that some of the worst rains struck west of North Carolina, where nearly 30 inches (76 cm) fell on Mount Mitchell in Yansi Province.
The state officials said that more than 400 roads are still closed in the state, as the state governor announced the death of two people on Saturday.
The water washed away (NYSE 🙂 Lake Lauf Dam in Rothford County and described people in Chamni Rock and around the center of the village as being washed away by the water. The photos show inches of mud and sediment, uprooted trees, broken telephone poles and buildings reduced to rubble.
And to the south directly in the east of Tennessee, Green County officials expressed concern that the Nolichak Dam is about to collapse, but the Tennessee Valley Authority was late on Saturday that the dam was stable and safe.
“As we continue to support response and recovery efforts, we will ensure that no resource is spared to ensure communities can quickly start on their path to rebuilding,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
The South Carolina state recorded the highest number of deaths, as local authorities have counted 24 deaths so far from Helen, and trees have fallen into the fall of many of them.
The ruler Brian Kemp said after seeing the damage in Valdosa that 17 people, including children, were killed in Georgia because of Hurin Helen.