The number of deaths keeps going up as people in western North Carolina continue to dig themselves out from the terrible storms that Helene caused.
Forty bodies have been found in Buncombe County, which has Asheville as its seat. From Buncombe, the number keeps going up. So far, there hasn’t been a lot of information about deaths in other areas.
People in the region are having trouble getting food, water, and fuel, and their power goes out for long periods of time. Most places have curfews for people at night.
On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper said, “Hurricane Helene has caused unprecedented devastation across Western North Carolina, and we are leading unprecedented efforts to flood these communities with food, water, and other supplies they need.”
Cooper said in a news release, “This will be a long and hard recovery, and we must use every state, local, and federal resource at our disposal to save lives, get communications back up and running, and start making important repairs to roads and infrastructure.”
On Monday, the governor and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell took a tour of Asheville.
Many of the water systems in the area were damaged or killed by the flooding. It could take weeks to fix water lines in Asheville and other places.
“The damage to the water system in Asheville is terrible,” Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said.
State and neighbourhood leaders are setting up water deliveries for people in need. Asheville and other local leaders say that water supplies are coming in more regularly for distribution.
The governor’s office said that more than 400 National Guard troops have been sent to help with recovery and getting supplies to people who need them.
On Monday, the North Carolina National Guard shared pictures of goods being sent to western North Carolina on cargo planes and helicopters. The planes also helped people get out of Avery County.
People from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Indiana who are in the National Guard are also helping out in North Carolina.
President Joe Biden is going to North Carolina on Wednesday. He will land in Raleigh and fly over the damage in the west.
The president quickly agreed to declare a major disaster in 25 North Carolina counties and for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
People can get help from FEMA to pay for temporary housing, some home fixes, property losses, and other things they need.
The governor’s office says that “more than 5,000 households have called or gone online to FEMA to ask for help.”