Washington [US], September 29: More than 50 people died and nearly 3.5 million people were without power on September 28 as Hurricane Helene swept through vast swaths of the southeastern United States, causing unprecedented devastation.
According to The Guardian , historic flooding continued in some areas of the southern Appalachian Mountains (USA) on September 28. Rescuers are trying to reach isolated communities in difficult weather conditions and local authorities have begun assessing the scale of damage as well as the status of evacuations.
"It looks like a bomb went off," Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said after surveying the damage from the air on September 28. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanna Criswell is also surveying the southeastern United States to assess the damage with state and local officials.
Hurricane Helene made landfall on September 26 in the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 4 storm with winds of 140 mph. It weakened to a tropical storm and moved rapidly through Georgia, North Carolina , South Carolina and Tennessee , uprooting trees, blowing off roofs, sweeping away cars and increasing the risk of dam failures and landslides.
The combination of strong winds, heavy rains, flooding and tornadoes in the path of Hurricane Helene caused billions of dollars in damage with entire city centers, highways and many homes, businesses and manufacturing facilities destroyed.
Jonathan Porter, a meteorologist at the commercial weather forecasting service AccuWeather (USA), estimated that the damage caused by the storm could reach 95-110 billion USD. Hurricane Helene is predicted to become one of the most damaging storms in modern US history.
At least 52 people have died as a result of Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. According to CNN, as of noon on September 28, more than 3 million homes and businesses in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky were severely affected and without power.
The threat of death and destruction from the storm continues, but Helene has weakened with the risk of heavy rains easing as it moves through the Tennessee Valley, according to the US National Hurricane Center ( NHC ). Massive evacuations and river rescues were carried out on September 27 as unprecedented rainfall strained dams and rivers.
In North Carolina, water overflowed a dam and surrounding communities were evacuated as a precaution. Parts of western North Carolina were cut off by mudslides and flooding that forced major road closures.
The NHC is currently tracking two more storms moving across the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Joyce and Hurricane Isaac, as they look set to strengthen. According to The Guardian , global warming caused by burning fossil fuels is fueling more intense tropical storms and increasing the risk of flooding.
In another development, in Mexico, at least 22 people were confirmed dead on September 28 after Tropical Storm John made landfall and flooded the southern resort city of Acapulco.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
