ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Desperate residents isolated by washed-out roads and the lack of power and cellular service in western North Carolina lined up Monday for fresh water and a chance to message loved ones that they were alive, days after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeastern U.S. and killed more than 100 people.
Government officials and aid groups were working to bring basic supplies by airlift, truck and mule to the hard-hit tourism hub of Asheville and its surrounding mountain towns.
At least 121 deaths in six states have been attributed to the storm — a toll that climbed Monday as a clearer picture emerged of the devastation it inflicted on an area stretching from Florida’s Gulf Coast northward to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. The North Carolina county that includes Asheville reported at least 35 deaths, while dozens were also killed in Georgia and South Carolina.
North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.
Many main routes into Asheville were washed away or blocked by mudslides, including Interstate 40, and the city's water system was severely damaged, forcing residents to scoop creek water into buckets so they could flush toilets.
How some of the worst-hit areas are coping
In one neighborhood where a wall of water ripped away all of the trees and left behind a muddy mess, people shared food and water and comforted each other. “That’s the blessing so far in this,” Sommerville Johnston said outside her home, which has been without power since Friday.
She planned on treating the neighborhood to venison stew from her powerless freezer before it goes bad. “Just bring your bowl and spoon,” she said.
Others waited in a line for more than a block at Mountain Valley Water, a water seller, to fill up milk jugs and whatever other containers they could find.
Derek Farmer, who brought three gallon-sized apple juice containers, said he had been prepared for the storm but now was nervous after three days without water. “I just didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” Farmer said.
Officials warned that rebuilding from the widespread loss of homes and property would be lengthy and difficult. The storm upended life throughout the Southeast, where deaths were also reported in Florida and Virginia.
Video showed a mass of debris, including overturned pontoon boats and splintered wooden docks, covering the surface of Lake Lure, a picturesque spot tucked between the mountains outside Asheville.