The death toll in the wake of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States has risen to at least 100, according to authorities, with rescue efforts continuing.
US President Joe Biden has described the impact of the storm as “stunning”. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he pledged his administration would “continue to surge resources, including food, water, communications and life saving equipment”.
“We will be there with you as long as it takes,” Biden said, while adding that he may have to request a supplemental funding package from the US Congress to support the effort.
Biden also announced that he planned to visit North Carolina – one of the hardest hit states – later this week.
Rescue, recovery and cleanup operations were also continuing across hard-hit areas of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. The most severe damage was brought by flooding and the storm’s heavy rains, which destroyed roads and infrastructure across the region.
Helene had made landfall in Florida on Thursday, when it was a Category Four hurricane with winds of 225 kilometres per hour (140 miles per hour).
It weakened as it moved inland but caused a swath of damage stretching more than 804 km (500 miles).
At least 39 people were killed in North Carolina, 25 in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 14 in Florida, four in Tennessee and one in Virginia, according to tallies from local authorities. The overall death toll is expected to rise.
One county in North Carolina, Buncombe, had at least 30 deaths, the local sheriff said on Sunday. The county, which includes the hard-hit city of Asheville, is in the Blue Ridge mountains and experienced particularly severe flooding. Search operations were continuing on Monday.
“This is an unprecedented storm,” he told reporters. “We’re working to surge supplies in. The emotional and physical toll here is indescribable.
“Rivers are still rising, so the danger is not over.
Climate change experts have warned that warmer sea temperatures are causing increasingly strong storms in the Atlantic, although August and September had proven surprisingly subdued.
Election issue
The fallout from the storm, which made landfall about a month before the US presidential election, has quickly taken a top role in both the campaigns of Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, and Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The affected areas include Georgia and North Carolina, both key states where polls show the race remains tight.
Speaking at a rally on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, Harris addressed the ravages of the storm.
“I know everyone here sends their thoughts and prayers for the folks who have been so devastated by that hurricane,” she said.
A man operating a front loader clears a home from the road that was destroyed in Keaton Beach after Hurricane Helene passed through the Florida panhandle [Octavio Jones/Reuters]
“We will stand with these communities for as long as it takes and make sure they are able to rebuild.”
Harris’s office later announced that she would head back to Washington, DC earlier than planned. The White House said she and Biden would visit the region this week.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign also announced he would visit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to survey Helene’s effect.
Trump is expected to receive a briefing, facilitate the distribution of relief supplies and deliver remarks during the visit, according to his campaign.