(CNN) – a week agoa, Helene was entering Floridabattering cities and towns on the Gulf Coast as millions of people, during the hurricane’s passage, dealt with rain that preceded even more rain. Forecasters warned of impacts that would be felt inland.
In the southeast, the roads were covered with cars, not water. The bridges were still standing. The lights were still on. The town of Chimney Rock, home to a popular North Carolina state park, stunning views and an iconic rock formation, was still awaiting the arrival of visitors.
A week later, confirmed the death of 200 people in six statesmaking Helene the deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This Thursday, eight more deaths were announced in Georgia, while authorities in western Florida reported another one.
Those who survived are still in disbelief after the historic storm hit their homes and communities. Chimney Rock was washed away, as were roads and bridges along the path of the massive storm.
The survivors help each other, bring each other food and water, help dig and cut down felled trees. Everyone hopes for small victories, like getting cell phone service back or finding an open gas station.
Nearly a million customers were still without power Thursday morning,gun PowerOutage.us. Most are in the Carolinas, where regional energy provider Duke Energy says “important parts of the electric grid… They were simply destroyed.”.
Helene’s rapid flooding brought down so many utility poles and power lines that infrastructure needs to be rebuilt before power is restored.
In some counties in Georgia and one in North Carolina, utilities say more than 90% of their customers remain without power. In a small county in southern Georgia, 99% of homes and businesses are without power.
Hundreds of roads remain closed, making it difficult to send aid to the most affected communities. And for those who left Helene before, they have delayed their return to check on their family, friends and the state of their homes. Some areas are so inaccessible that Supplies are shipped by mule and by air.
In Weaverville, North Carolina, things are improving for about 5,000 residents, but “they’re still pretty bad,” Mayor Patrick Fitzsimmons told CNN on Wednesday. The mayor was speaking from the grocery store — the only place in the city where Wi-Fi worked, he said.
Relief efforts in damaged areas are intensifying as technicians restore power and the military and aid groups bring in personnel and supplies. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden sent 1,000 troops from Fort Liberty in eastern North Carolina to the devastated western part of the state. Biden visited North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday, while Vice President Kamala Harris visited Augusta, Georgia, a city that remains under a curfew and a boil water notice.
Before Helene, Katie Button’s popular restaurants Cúrate and La Bodega in Asheville, North Carolina, were thriving. Now, he says it could be up to a month before restaurants even have access to running water.
While the community tries understand the magnitude of the destruction caused by Helene, Button told CNN that he is focusing on doing what he can to help those most in need.
Its restaurants have partnered with World Central Kitchen, by chef José Andrés, to distribute food and water to those who have been isolated after the storm.
They estimate they will have prepared 3,000 meals for residents of Asheville and the surrounding community by the end of Wednesday.
“We can do it because World Central Kitchen trucks water to us,” Button said.
“We will make at least 1,000 meals a day. And then they send those meals by helicopter to people who are completely isolated from road access. “There are so many challenges.”
Robert Gaudet, founder and CEO of Cajun Navya volunteer disaster rescue and response team, has witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by dozens of natural disasters.
But the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene left him speechless.
“We have made many catastrophes. We went to Maui because of the wildfires. “We have never seen anything like this,” he said.
“When there are meters of mud filling properties and houses and an entire city is washed into a lake… and it’s not just what you see, but you can drive for hours and hours and see the destruction and the damage, you quickly lose the sense of how “Life has been and what it is like for you.”
Gaudet, who founded the Cajun Army after Katrina, said the death toll remains personally difficult for him.
“We see many (disasters) and to hear that more than 100 people have lost their lives, and those are the ones we know about so far, is really horrible,” he said.
Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, announced it will provide free service for 30 days in regions affected by Hurricane Helene.
“For those who have been affected by Hurricane Helene, or want to support response and recovery efforts in affected areas, Starlink is now free for 30 days,” Starlink said in X.
After 30 days, customers will move to a “paid residential subscription, tied to the location it is currently being used,” the company said, adding: “We will re-evaluate as necessary based on local conditions.” ”.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is still working with state and local officials to confirm how many people are missing in the wake of Helene, Administrator Deanne Criswell told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Wednesday.
More than 3,500 FEMA personnel have been deployed – including 1,200 in North Carolina alone – to assist in search and rescue and recovery efforts, Criswell said.
“In terms of damage to water, mobile phone and electricity infrastructure, the ability to restore them is going to be complicated because of the way (the mountainous region) is configured,” he said.
The agency is sending additional staff, Criswell said, and repairing some of the facilities will take weeks, not days.
“We know it’s going to be a sustained operation,” he said. “How do we continue to provide resources that can sustain the need for the next few weeks, or as long as it takes to restore some of these critical services, like water, in these communities?”
The administrator said her agency is working with cell phone companies to bring portable “cell phones on wheels,” or COWS, to ensure residents can contact emergency services and their loved ones.
“We are seeing cell phone service starting to improve, but we know it is still limited in many areas,” Criswell said. “We are going to install more to be able to expand that accessibility.”
He urged those who have not been able to locate their loved ones to dial 211 to help account for the missing.
Correction: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized Helene’s ranking among the deadliest hurricanes. It is the deadliest since Katrina.
CNN’s Emma Tucker, Chelsea Bailey and Andy Rose contributed to this report.
