30 dead in one state after tornado hits North Carolina

At least 30 people are dead and dozens are missing in one county in North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene hit the state and caused flooding.

A clearer picture of the damage caused by the storm after it ripped through Florida and Georgia emerged throughout Sunday, with Buncombe County appearing to be the hardest hit.

“We’ve got biblical damage,” said Ryan Cole, emergency chief for the county, which includes the mountain city of Asheville. “This is the most significant natural disaster that any of us has ever seen.”

At least 105 people have died across the country since the storm hit Florida on Thursday, according to the BBC in the US, and the number is expected to rise as officials reach more places.

Helene began as a hurricane – the strongest on record to hit the Big Bend in Florida, and moved north into Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. Most of the deaths were confirmed in North and South Carolina where Helene made landfall as a tropical storm.

As of Sunday evening, officials in North Carolina said 30 people have died in Buncombe County alone. Crews across the state are battling power and cell service outages, downed trees and hundreds of road closures.

Some residents also found their homes destroyed on Sunday. And with about 1,000 people still unaccounted for in Buncombe County, relatives are working to find family members with the smallest cell phone.

“This storm has caused a lot of damage … that is historic,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.

The American Red Cross has opened more than 140 shelters for those displaced from their homes in the southeastern states. More than 2,000 people are using these shelters, the organization said on Sunday.

Erin Quevedo, owner of a flooded hair salon in Buncombe County, spoke to Asheville Citizen Times while ankle deep in mud.

“The hair salon was completely destroyed. It looks like the water reached about five meters inside,” he said. “Right now, all we’re doing is trying to salvage what we can.”

Rescue operations are underway in North Carolina and supplies, including food and water, are being airlifted to affected areas that cannot be reached due to closed roads.

“People are desperate for help and we’re trying to bring it to them – [it is] great effort,” Governor Cooper said.

The North Carolina National Guard has rescued more than 119 people — including one infant, according to Major General Todd Hunt. He said there were 41 major rescues north of Asheville.

Many gas stations are closed across North Carolina with long lines of cars at those that are still open. Meanwhile, the few supermarkets that are open are filled with customers trying to buy bottled water.

Damage caused by the storm is estimated at between $95bn and $110bn (£71bn-£82bn) across the country. The extent of the destruction will become clearer in the coming days.

The search for survivors continues and states of emergency have been declared for six states, including Florida and Georgia.

“The damage we saw when Hurricane Helene hit was enormous,” said President Joe Biden on Saturday.

He was briefed by Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), who ordered him to speed up support for hurricane survivors, including sending additional teams to North Carolina.

Although Helene has weakened significantly, forecasters are warning that strong winds, flooding and the threat of hurricanes may continue.

There could be as many as 25 named storms by 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned earlier this year.

Between eight and 13 of those storms could become hurricanes and several already have, including Helene. More storms could be on the way, officials warned, as the official end of the hurricane season comes on November 30.