Authorities in North Carolina have found the body of a woman who drowned while Hurricane Helene was passing over the mountains.
A news report from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services on Friday morning says that 98 deaths have been confirmed. According to the news statement, this is the fifth death in Avery County. 34 of those deaths were caused by drowning.
storm Helene is the fourth deadliest storm to hit the Atlantic Basin in the last 75 years. It is thought to have killed more than 200 people in the South and possibly more than 250. Only Katrina (2005, 1,392 deaths), Audrey (1957, 416 deaths), and Camille (1969, 256 deaths) killed more people.
Helene’s path finished in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, where it rained more than 30 inches in some places. The flooding was terrible, and it may have been the worst storm for North Carolina since Hurricanes Floyd in 1999 and Hazel in 1954.
Hurricane Hazel was the only Category 4 hurricane to hit land in the state, and Hurricane Floyd caused a flood that only happens once every 500 years.
PowerOutage.us says that 2,420 people in Yancey County are without power at noon, and 343 people in Mitchell County are too. More than a million people didn’t have power when the storm was at its worst.
DriveNC.org says that 415 roads have been closed because of Helene. These include 343 minor roads, 38 state roads, 32 federal roads, and two interstates.
There are still 21 post offices that are closed. A press release from U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., says that mobile operations units are ready to go in Alexander, Barnardsville, Cedar Mountain, Edneyville, Hot Springs, Marshall, Micaville, Montreat, Rosman, and Swannanoa.
Commercial planes have started up again at Asheville Regional Airport. General aviation pilots are not allowed to land unless they have permission to do so from FEMA and are carrying supplies and help.
In western North Carolina, there are 234 wastewater treatment plants that are normally running. Twenty-two are partial or system-wide boil warnings, and one doesn’t have power but doesn’t serve homes. There are no more water in two systems.