Prior to making landfall in Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, Hurricane Helene struck Florida as a Category 4 hurricane.
Authorities in the southeastern United States were faced with the immense challenge on Saturday of dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, one of the most powerful and potentially costly storms to hit the country, as the number of casualties continued to rise.
By early Saturday, at least 47 deaths had been reported, with officials expressing concerns that more fatalities may be discovered across multiple states.
Damage assessments from the path of the storm vary between $95 billion and $110 billion, indicating that this could be one of the most financially impactful storms in modern American history, as stated by AccuWeather’s chief meteorologist, Jonathan Porter.
Despite being reclassified as a post-tropical cyclone late on Friday, the remnants of Helene continued to cause significant rainfall across several states, leading to widespread flooding that posed a threat of dam failures potentially resulting in the inundation of entire towns.
President Joe Biden addressed the overwhelming devastation caused by Hurricane Helene on Saturday, expressing continued prayers for those who have suffered losses and for all individuals affected by the storm.
As of Saturday afternoon, over 3 million customers remained without power in five states, with authorities cautioning that it could take several days for full restoration of services. The most severe outages were reported in South Carolina, with over 1 million homes and businesses affected, and Georgia, where 750,000 were without power.
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