Hurricane Helene: Death toll reaches at least 30 in four states

CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helene The disaster left a huge swath of destruction across Florida and the entire southeastern U.S. on Friday, killing at least 35 people in four states, snapping trees like branches, tearing apart homes and sending rescuers on desperate missions to save people from floods.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said dozens of people were still trapped in buildings damaged by the Category 4 hurricane. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) at the time. Landing made late Thursday in a sparsely populated region of rural Big Bend, Florida, home to fishing villages and resort towns where Florida's panhandle and peninsula meet.

The damage stretched hundreds of miles north, with flooding extending into northeastern Tennessee, where a “dangerous rescue situation” unfolded after 54 people were rushed to the roof of Unicoi County Hospital as floodwaters inundated the facility. according to Ballad Health.

In North Carolina, a lake used in the film “Dirty Dancing” topped a dam. People in surrounding neighborhoods were evacuated, although there were no immediate concerns of failure.

Several hospitals in south Georgia were without power and authorities “had difficulty getting to certain locations,” so teams with chainsaws were “working to clear roads,” Kemp said at a news conference.

Helene's devastation comes because climate change is exacerbating the conditions that allow such storms to thrive. In the warmer waters, they intensify quickly, sometimes turning into strong hurricanes and typhoons within a few hours.

“Thank God we're both still alive to tell about it,” Rhonda Bell said after a giant oak tree tore through the roof of her home in Valdosta, Georgia.

All five people who died in one Florida county were in neighborhoods where residents had been ordered to evacuate, said Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff in Pinellas County in the St. Petersburg area. He said people who stayed because they didn't believe the warnings ended up hiding in their attics to escape the rising water.

“We tried to launch boats, we tried to use high-water vehicles and we just ran into too many obstacles,” Gualtieri said. He said the death toll could rise as rescuers go door-to-door in flooded areas.

Increasing deaths have also been reported in Georgia and the Carolinas.

Videos on social media sites showed rain clouds falling from buildings in Perry, Florida, near where the storm hit. A news station reported a toppled house and curfews were imposed in many communities.

“It's really heartbreaking,” Stephen Tucker said after the hurricane ripped off the brand new roof of a church in Perry that was replaced after Hurricane Idalia last year.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the damage from Helene appeared to be greater than the combined damage from Idalia and Hurricane Debby in August. “It’s demoralizing,” he said.

President Joe Biden said he was praying for survivors as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency traveled to the area. The agency has deployed more than 1,500 personnel and assisted in 400 rescue operations as of late morning.

In Tampa, some areas could only be reached by boat. Elsewhere, officials warned that the water could contain live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.

“If you are trapped and need assistance, please call rescuers – DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TREAD OVER FLOOD WATER YOURSELF,” the Citrus County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office warned in a Facebook post.

According to the data, more than 4 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina on Friday morning poweroutage.us, which tracks supply reports.

In Georgia, an energy supplier is warning of “catastrophic” damage to the Georgian supply infrastructure. The Georgia Electric Membership Corp., which represents the state's electric cooperatives, said the hurricane damaged more than 100 power lines and more than 60 substations were out of service.

The hurricane came ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River on Florida's Gulf Coast. This place was only about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of there Idalia Last year it hit with almost the same intensity and caused great damage.

Atlanta was drenched, with car roofs sticking out of the water in some neighborhoods.

As the eye of the hurricane passed near Valdosta, Georgia, a city of 55,000 near the Florida border, dozens of people crowded into a darkened hotel lobby early Friday. “We heard a rumble,” said 20-year-old Fermin Herrera, who was holding his sleeping 2-month-old daughter.

Helene is the third storm to hit the city in just over a year. Tropical Storm Debby knocked out power for thousands of people in August, while Hurricane Idalia damaged an estimated 1,000 homes in Valdosta and surrounding Lowndes County a year ago. Now some shop windows in the city center were broken and the awnings were damaged.

Soon after it crossed the land, Helene weakened to a tropical storm and then weakened again to a tropical depression. Forecasters said catastrophic flooding continued and the threat of mudslides was increasing in the Appalachian Mountains. In some areas it rained more than 30 cm.

In North Carolina, forecasters warned of flooding that could be worse than anything seen in the past century. Evacuations took place in several areas of the state on Friday and around 300 roads were closed. The Connecticut Army National Guard sent a helicopter to assist.

“It's terrible. I don’t know if I’ll ever see anything like that again,” said Spencer Tate Andrews of Asheville, North Carolina.

School districts and several universities have canceled classes. Airports in Florida that were closed were scheduled to reopen Friday, and inspectors were en route to inspect bridges and levees along the Gulf Coast in an effort to quickly reopen them to traffic, the state's transportation secretary said.

Helene earlier flooded parts of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsulaflooded roads and toppled trees as it brushed against the resort town of Cancun and passed offshore. In western Cuba, Helene cut off power to more than 200,000 households and businesses as she flew past the island.

Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of the record warm sea temperatures.

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Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Russ Bynum in Valdosta, Georgia; Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodríguez in Havana; Mark Stevenson and María Verza in Mexico City; and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.