Death toll reaches 100 from Hurricane Helene in the USA

The storm left a trail of destruction wherever it went. The hurricane caused blackouts and floods, and food had to be delivered by air to difficult-to-reach areas. At least 2.7 million people were still without power this Sunday.

Entire cities were underwater. Tampa Bay resident Matt Heller told CNN that his home was under 4 feet of water half an hour after the storm, while he took shelter in a kayak in his flooded living room. “This is definitely the biggest flood we’ve ever had,” he said.

The storm caused hundreds of roads to be closed and bridges to collapse as floodwaters hit. “We are hearing of significant damage to water infrastructure, communications, roads, essential routes, as well as numerous homes destroyed,” said Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).

Three flood warnings remained in effect on Sunday. The warning was in effect for western North Carolina due to the risk of dam failures, National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said.

President Biden is expected to visit the affected areas. The White House reported this Sunday (29) that the US president “intends to travel this week” to the southeast of the country, “as soon as this does not cause interruptions in emergency response operations”, said the US government.

* With information from AFP.