Hurricane Helene’s death toll tops 130 as Southeast digs out from storm’s devastation

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(CBS News) – As the number of storm-related deaths climbed past 130 across the Southeast, authorities were rushing to airdrop supplies, restore power and clear roads after massive rains from Hurricane Helene left people stranded and without shelter.

President Biden said Monday he plans to visit areas in North Carolina devastated by flooding from Helene on Wednesday, but will try to limit his disruption of ongoing recovery efforts. Biden said he will travel to Raleigh for a briefing with the emergency operations center, then take an aerial tour of the damage in Asheville. …

President Biden’s homeland security adviser, Liz Sherwood-Randall, told reporters Monday over 3,500 federal response personnel were deployed to the area and the number of urban search and rescue personnel would be up to 1,250 in the coming days.

Former President Donald Trump visited Valdosta, Georgia, just north of the Florida-Georgia state line Monday afternoon. …Trump…spoke with [those impacted] and a group from Samaritan’s Purse, the charity run by evangelist Franklin Graham.

Trump’s [opponent], Vice President Kamala Harris, intends to visit the region when it won’t disrupt response efforts.

…The storm appears to have inflicted its worst damage in the Carolinas … In Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, 40 deaths were reported. More than 95,000 Buncombe County homes and businesses had no power Monday afternoon…

Storm Helene Causes Massive Flooding Across Swath Of Western North Carolina — Leo Grindstaff, 12, left, helps his brother Gabe, 4, while walking to their grandparent’s house to help salvage items in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024 in Old Fort, North Carolina. Melissa Sue Gerrits / Getty Images

Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder pledged in a call with reporters Sunday that she would have food and water to the city by Monday. …

In North Carolina, at least 56 people were killed, officials confirmed to CBS News. “This is an unprecedented tragedy that requires an unprecedented response,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference Sunday. He added that more deaths were expected as rescuers reach isolated areas.

In South Carolina, 33 people were confirmed dead from the storm as of Tuesday morning, according to the coroner’s offices in 11 affected counties. Gov. Henry McMaster had announced most of those deaths Monday. They included two firefighters and two people who were killed when trees fell on residences, officials said earlier.

At least 25 people were killed in Georgia, according to a spokesperson for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. A first responder was among the dead, Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday.

In Florida, 13 people were killed, officials confirmed to CBS News, including 10 people who died in Pinellas County. Statewide, crews have conducted thousands of rescue missions.

Six weather-related fatalities were confirmed in Tennessee.

In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a Friday news conference that one person was killed. Another person was confirmed dead in Virginia on Monday.

Helene knocked out power to several million customers. Over a million and a half still had no electricity Monday night…. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday night that 99% of that state’s homes and businesses had their power restored. …

Helene crashed ashore in Florida’s Big Bend area on Thursday night as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane. [Its sheer wind force and deadly floods left behind a path of destruction stretching over 500 miles from Florida to the Southern Appalachians. In just 48 hours, vast swaths of the region became unrecognizable. Communities were cut off and stranded as floodwaters washed away hundreds of roads, buildings, homes and vehicles. Communication infrastructure in the affected areas has been damaged or destroyed.] …

Helene soaked [the affected states, including] the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains, sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

The National Weather Service on Saturday reported the highest rainfall totals from Helene for each state. As of Saturday morning, the rural northwest North Carolina area of Busick had received the highest overall rainfall, with a staggering 30.78 inches.

… Asheville was particularly hard hit as rising floodwaters damaged roads, led to power outages and cut off cellphone service. On Sunday, Gov. Cooper asked residents to avoid traveling on roadways in western North Carolina.

“Many people are cut off because the roads are impassable,” he said.

[President] Biden has issued emergency declarations for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, all of which free up federal resources that will go toward recovery and assistance efforts.

Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Helene in the U.S. is between $95 billion and $110 billion.

Excerpted from an article published at CBSNews on Oct. 1. Alex Sundby, Brian Dakss, Skyler Henry, David Yeomans. Alex Sundby is a senior editor at CBSNews.com. Jason Allen, Dave Malkoff, Tom Hanson and Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.

Questions

1. As of the writing of this news report, how many people had lost their lives from Hurricane Helene?

2. List the states affected by the hurricane.

3. When/where will Presidents Biden and Trump and Vice President Harris visit the areas affected by the storm?

4. What area had the highest amount of overall rainfall?

5. In addition to the tragic loss of lives, what damage was done by the storm?

6. a) People are still missing/being rescued in some remote locations where roads have cut them off from help. What is estimated to be the cost of property damage across the states from the storm?
b) What will be the overall economic loss from the storm?

7. Watch the videos under “Resources.”

a) The longshoreman’s union from the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports voted to go on strike October 1. Fifty percent of all shipped goods (including construction materials and automobiles) arrive into these ports.
How do you think the strike will affect rebuilding efforts?

b) In the Fox Business video, host Stuart Varney suggests President Biden should invoke the Taft-Hartley Act (which would pause the strike and bring workers back to work temporarily). When asked if he would do so, Biden said he wouldn’t because he doesn’t believe in the Taft-Hartley Act.
What do you think? Should President Biden invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to get the dockworkers back to work while they are negotiating a new contract? Explain your answer.

c) The union says they want their fair share. They say the companies make billions but dockworkers don’t make enough.
Consider what union president Harold Daggett said about the strike in the video. What are your thoughts after hearing this, especially in light of the devastation experienced by many Americans as a result of the hurricane (and also the truck drivers, farmers, small businesses and average Americans who will also be hurt by the strike).

Background

Samaritan’s Purse has begun relief efforts in the affected states. Find out how they are helping at samaritanspurse.org.

The Cajun Navy, a volunteer group that provides immediate rescue and relief during natural disasters is also working in the affected states. Visit the website at cajunnavyrelief.com. (See links to their social media at bottom of homepg)

Who is Harold Daggett, the union boss behind the port strikes who fought Mafia tie allegations?

Longshoreman union boss Harold Daggett has long cast himself as a staunch advocate for blue-collar workers, even as he has lived in luxury, owning a yacht and driving a Bentley.
Daggett has worked at the ILA (the Longshoreman’s union) for 57 years and became president in 2011 — raked in $728,000 in compensation last year from the ILA.
He collected another $173,000 as president emeritus of a local union branch, according to labor department filings.
He lives in a 7,136 square-foot house valued at $1.7 million on a 10-acre lot in New Jersey.
Daggett’s sons — Dennis and John — reportedly earn similarly cushy salaries in their roles at the union.
Dennis, the executive vice president of the ILA, earned $250,156 in the fiscal year ended December 2022, according to ProPublica. John, the general vice president of the Atlantic Coast District ILA, reportedly earned $264,228 in the same period. (Excerpted from an October 1, 2024 NY Post report)

Read a Sept. 20 article Longshoremen at key US ports threatening to strike.