Aftermath of Hurricane Helene: Supplies arrive in North Carolina by plane and mule

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Widespread devastation left behind Hurricane Helene came to light in the South on Monday, revealing a wasteland of splintered homes, smashed shipping containers and mud-covered highways in one of the worst storms in U.S. history. The death toll was over 130.

A crisis erupted in western North Carolina, where residents stranded by washed-out roads and a lack of power and cell service lined up Monday to get fresh water and tell their loved ones just days after the storm hit are alive.

At least 132 deaths in six southeastern states have been attributed to the storm Damage inflicted from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia.

The death toll rose steadily on Monday as rescue workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding. During a briefing on Monday, White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested that as many as 600 people had not been accounted for as of Monday afternoon and said some could be dead.

President Joe Biden plans to travel to North Carolina on Wednesday.

Government officials and aid organizations worked to deliver basic supplies by plane, truck and even mule to the most affected people Asheville Tourism Center and the surrounding mountain towns. At least 40 people died in the county, which includes Asheville.

The destruction and despair were unimaginable. A flat shipping container sat on a bridge that crossed a river of muddy brown water. Overturned pontoon boats, splintered wooden boardwalks and tree trunks covered the surface of a picturesque lake between the mountains.

A woman cradled her child as people gathered around her on a hill where there was cell service. Many sent a simple text: “I’m fine.”

The death toll in North Carolina included one horrific story after another of people trapped in their homes and vehicles by floods or killed by falling trees. A courthouse security guard died after hiding in his truck. A couple and a 6-year-old boy who were waiting on a roof to be rescued drowned when part of their house collapsed.

Rescuers managed to save dozens of people, including a toddler and two others who were stuck on the roof of a car in Atlanta. More than 50 hospitals Patients and staff in Tennessee were rescued from the roof of the hospital in a daring helicopter rescue operation.

How some of the hardest hit areas are coping

Several major roads into Asheville were washed away or blocked by mudslides, including a 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 40, and the city's water system was severely damaged, forcing residents to scoop stream water into buckets so they could could flush the toilets.

People shared food and water and comforted one another in a neighborhood where a wall of water swept away all the trees and left a muddy mess not far away. “This has been the blessing so far,” Sommerville Johnston said in front of her home, which has been without power since Friday.

She planned to treat the neighborhood to venison stew from her unpowered freezer before it went bad. “Just bring your bowl and spoon,” she said.

Others waited in line for more than a block at Mountain Valley Water, a water vendor, to refill milk jugs and any other containers they could find.

Derek Farmer, who brought three-gallon apple juice containers, said he had been prepared for the storm but was now nervous after three days without water. “I just didn’t know how bad it was going to get,” Farmer said.

Officials warned that rebuilding would be long and difficult after widespread loss of homes and property. The storm Life across the Southeast was turned upside downwhere deaths were also reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.

Video showed a mass of debris, including overturned pontoon boats and splintered wooden boardwalks, covering the surface of Lake Lure, a scenic spot nestled among the mountains outside Asheville.

Helene thundered ashore late Thursday in northern Florida A Category 4 hurricane, it moved quickly through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, bringing heavy rains that flooded waterways.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Monday that hundreds of roads in western North Carolina were closed and shelters were housing more than 1,000 people.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper took a tour of the Asheville area and later met with workers distributing meals.

“This was an unprecedented storm that hit western North Carolina,” he said afterward. “It requires an unprecedented response.”

Officials urged travelers not to come to the region in the next few days to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search parties spread across the entire region in search of stranded people.

I'm waiting for help and looking for a signal in North Carolina

Several dozen people gathered on a hill in Asheville where they found one of the city's hottest assets – a cell phone signal.

“Is it day three or day four?” asked Colleen Burnet. “It was all a blur.”

The storm triggered the worst flooding in North Carolina in a century. Rainfall estimates since Wednesday were more than 24 inches (61 centimeters) in some areas.

Biden said he would travel to Raleigh on Wednesday to meet with officials and take a tour of Asheville.

He previously said the federal government would be there for survivors and others in the southeast of the country affected by Helene “for as long as necessary.”

Ten federal search and rescue teams were on the ground and another nine were en route while trucks and cargo planes arrived with food and water, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell surveyed the damage with North Carolina's governor on Monday.

Volunteers also came. Mike Toberer decided to bring a dozen of his mules to bring food, water and diapers to the hard-to-reach mountain areas.

“We take our chainsaws and push these mules through,” he said, noting that each one can carry about 200 pounds (90 kilograms) and go 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h).

Why Western North Carolina was hit so hard

Western North Carolina suffered comparatively more devastation as Helene's remnants there encountered the higher elevations and cooler air of the Appalachian Mountains, even leading to riots more rain will fall.

Asheville and many surrounding mountain towns were built in valleys, making them particularly vulnerable to devastating rains and floods. In addition, the ground was already saturated before Helene arrived, said Christiaan Patterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

“When Helene came into the Carolinas, we already had this rain and more rain,” Patterson said.

Climate change has exacerbated conditions Allow such storms to thrivewhich intensifies quickly in warmer waters and sometimes turns into strong cyclones within hours.

Destruction from Florida to Virginia

Along Florida's Gulf Coast, several feet of water flooded the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, forcing workers to transport two manatees and sea turtles. All of the animals were safe, but much of the aquarium's vital equipment was damaged or destroyed, said James Powell, the aquarium's executive director.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said the storm “literally spared no one.” Most people in and around Augusta, a city of about 200,000 near the South Carolina border, were still without power Monday.

With at least 25 deaths in South Carolina, Helene was the deadliest tropical cyclone to hit the state since then Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people.

Tropical Storm Kirk is forming and could become a strong hurricane

Tropical Storm Kirk formed in the eastern Atlantic on Monday and is expected to become a “large and strong hurricane” by Tuesday night or Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm was located about 800 miles (1,285 kilometers) west of the Cabo Verde Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (95 km/h). There were no coast guards or warnings and the storm system posed no threat to the country.

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Associated Press reporter Gary D. Robertson in Asheville; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Beatrice Dupuy in New York City; Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani in Washington; and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed.