Helene death toll rises to at least 227 across 6 states

By Joe Sutton, Raja Razek, Rebekah Riess, Holly Yan and Ashley R. Williams, CNN

(CNN) — The death toll from Helene has risen to at least 227 across six states, according to CNN’s tally, after two more deaths were announced Saturday in South Carolina.

Helene is the second deadliest hurricane to strike the United States mainland in the past 50 years, following Hurricane Katrina, which killed at least 1,833 people in 2005.

Officials announced seven additional deaths in North Carolina earlier Saturday.

A massive relief effort is ongoing across the devastated region to restore power, rebuild damaged water and cell infrastructure and get supplies to areas cut off to road access after Helene tore up and washed out roads and bridges, officials say.

Meanwhile, searches for missing people continued Saturday.

The deaths from Helene by state as of Saturday are as follows:

• North Carolina: 113 people
• South Carolina: 48 people
• Georgia: 33 people
• Florida: 20 people
• Tennessee: 11 people
• Virginia: 2 people

Here’s what we know about continuing recovery efforts after Helene:

Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed: The 400-mile-long Blue Ridge Parkway spanning through North Carolina and Virginia will remain closed with no set reopening date as crews continue assessing damage from Helene, according to the National Park Service. Teams have reported “significant, and in some cases catastrophic” damage along portions of the parkway, park service spokesperson Mike Litterst told CNN. Pictures shared by Litterst revealed downed trees and a road washout near Gooch Gap. The parkway was listed as the number one most visited NPS site in 2023 with 16.75 million visits, CNN previously reported.

Emergency responders from across the US respond to hurricane-ravaged North Carolina county: Hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, is getting help from several hundred emergency responders from agencies nationwide who were on the ground there by Saturday, including from the New York Fire Department. “You’ll see their (FDNY) trucks outside, but we have crews from across the country who are here, and that number is more than 1,300,” county spokesperson Lillian Govus said during a Saturday news conference. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has more than 3,000 federal responders on the ground in North Carolina, said MaryAnn Tierney, FEMA’s National Incident Management Assistance team lead.

Nearly half a million customers remain without power: Just under 490,000 customers in five states are still without electricity more than one week after Helene lashed the southeastern US, according to poweroutage.us. About 489,176 customers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia were waiting for power to be restored as of Saturday afternoon. More than 74,000 people were without power in Buncombe County Saturday, according to county manager Avril Pinder.

Breakdown of power outages by state:

• South Carolina: 158,929
• North Carolina: 175,407
• Florida: 3,456
• Virginia: 4,791
• Georgia: 146,593

Parts of Asheville’s Biltmore Estate suffer significant damage: Areas of America’s largest privately owned mansion and a popular tourist attraction in Asheville were impacted by Helene, with some low-lying parts of the estate experiencing “significant flooding and damage to buildings,” the Biltmore Estate said. The 250-room house along with the estate’s winery, conservatory and hotels “received minimal or no damage from the storm,” according to the Biltmore. “We sadly lost a few of our animals during the storm, but the vast majority are safe and accounted for,” the estate said. In the forested areas, which make up “a large portion of the estate, wind damage is extensive to grounds and some structures,” the Biltmore said. “Crews have been working tirelessly to clear roads so we can begin repairs.”

‘A lot of entire families lost,’ Black Mountain community member says: Community members in Black Mountain, North Carolina, heavily impacted by Helene, are working together to send supplies into their own neighborhoods and hard-to-reach areas. Nathan West, a member of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, told CNN the congregation has been deploying into the outlying communities and further into the mountains, trying to get water, water filtration systems and food to people. “It’s really been about the local folks,” West told CNN. “We were operational and deploying supplies the day after the hurricane … our local first responders were out tirelessly going and going and going.” When asked about the rising death toll from the storm, an emotional West said it has been hard to talk about. “There’s a lot of kids lost, a lot of parents lost, a lot of entire families lost. And to see people that you know and have to see that in the aftermath, of all this has been pretty difficult,” he said.

Hundreds of nurses from 8 states sent to assist Asheville: Some 400 nurses from Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, Kansas, Utah and California have been sent to Asheville, North Carolina, to provide support and relief for Mission Health hospital caregivers in the wake of Hurricane Helene, HCA Healthcare said in a statement Saturday. Additionally, more than 40 physicians from the hospital system have been dispatched from other regions to support the western North Carolina community, HCA Healthcare said. The health group said it’s providing Mission Health hospitals with thousands of gallons of water and mobile bathroom and handwashing stations amid Asheville’s ongoing water issues. “It is important to preserve as much potable water as possible for general hospital use,” HCA Healthcare said in the statement.

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CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.