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2 months ago
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Distressing footage shows a group of Hurricane Helene survivors standing chest-deep in water inside a trashed house while awaiting rescue.
The unidentified people were filmed at the flooded home in Hendersonville, North Carolina late last week, stood in complete silence.
One woman was seen holding onto her pet cat, while another survivor was keeping a dog afloat.
Upturned furniture floats silently around the Helene victims, with the camera panning outside to show deep water as far as the eye can see.
Footage of the group of people was captured inside what was left of a home in the city of Hendersonville
Another photo shows a woman holding onto her pet cat. The room is totally silent and devoid of anyone speaking
The camera pans around to show the outside of the property which, much like the interior, is devastatingly flooded
The ferocious storm swept across the southeast of the country and has left communities isolated and devastated.
On Thursday, the death toll reached 200 and could rise higher as searchers continue to make their way towards the hardest to reach places.
Many remain missing and it is unclear if they have been killed or simply remain in areas where communications networks and utilities have yet to be restored.
These are now mostly the mountains of western North Carolina, where the storm washed out roads and knocked out water, electricity and cell service.
Deaths have also been reported in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.
The grim tally was pushed up after officials in Georgia and North Carolina updated their figures, making Helene the deadliest storm since Hurricane Katrina battered Louisiana in 2005.
Electricity is being slowly restored, as the number of homes and businesses dipped below 1 million for the first time since last weekend,
Most of the outages are in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene struck after barreling over Florida's Gulf Coast on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane.
In remote mountain areas helicopters hoisted the stranded to safety while search crews moved toppled trees so they could look door to door for survivors.
Cars sit submerged in a flooded area at a used tire dealer after Tropical Storm Helene in Hendersonville, North Carolina, U.S., September 27
Marisol Juarez and her children stand in front of their family's destroyed mobile home, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hendersonville
Dave Marshall, executive pastor at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, said the level of destruction left him 'totally shocked'.
He said: 'Nobody was prepared. We are shocked and devastated. Everybody knows a friend or family member that has lost a loved one.'
According to the National Guard, there is over 6,700 Army and Air National Guard members from 16 states now assisting with the cleanup and rescue effort.
President Joe Biden toured areas of North Carolina including Asheville, which was wiped out by the extreme weather, earlier this week.
President Biden said that the federal government would cover 100 percent of all emergency measures and debris removal in North Carolina for six months.
Debris is seen here after the storm broke through Asheville, leaving the area devastated
He said he would do the same for Georgia and Florida the next 90 days, with the US Homeland Security Chief warning if another storm hit they would struggle to help.
Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters earlier this week: 'FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] does not have the funds to make it through the season.'
Outrage is now mounting after it emerged that FEMA spent $640 to support migrants in the 2024 fiscal year.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted on X saying: 'Mayorkas and FEMA, immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by the hurricane.'
While former president Donald Trump posted on X in response to a report on FEMA spending saying: 'WTF'.
English (US)