Helene: Still 26 unaccounted for, 96 fatalities in North Carolina
(The Center Square) – Twenty-six remain unaccounted for and 96 are confirmed dead from Hurricane Helene’s impact in North Carolina.
The numbers come from Gov. Roy Cooper and the state Department of Health and Human Services, respectively. This is the fourth week of recovery from the storm that arrived in Florida on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane, then dissipated over the mountains and Tennessee.
The state’s 96 fatalities include 42 in Buncombe County, 11 in Yancey, seven in Henderson and five in Haywood.
Some areas are still getting supplies and moving about by horseback. Tuesday morning at 10, the state road closures report at DriveNC.org listed 470 – 398 secondary roads, 39 state roads, 31 federal highways and two on interstates. A release from the governor said 789 closures have been reopened.
The state Department of Transportation, a release says, has about 2,000 personnel and 900 pieces of equipment involved in the recovery process. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration approved $100 million to North Carolina on Oct. 5; state Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger told The Carolina Journal it helps but “is just a drop in the bucket” of what is needed.
Seven school districts have yet to reopen; 28 have opened.
According to PowerOutage.us, 2,841 were without power in Yancey County on Tuesday morning and 568 in neighboring Mitchell County.
