Helene costs may top $30 billion; death toll increases again: Updates

Costs from Helene’s path of destruction across the southeastern U.S. are expected to surpass $30 billion, one analysis shows.

The estimates account for wind loss, insured and uninsured storm surge, and inland flood loss for residential and commercial properties across 16 states, according to CoreLogic, a California-based financial and consumer analytics company that tallied losses. Helene, which first hit Florida as a category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, is estimated to have caused between $10.5 and $17.5 billion of insured losses alone.

Helene’s path caused extensive flooding in several areas without insurance, Monica Ningen, CEO of U.S. Property & Casualty Reinsurance at Swiss Re, said, adding this will “make the task of rebuilding the communities impacted all the more difficult.”

Take Buncombe County, North Carolina, which includes Asheville, where much of the devastation has happened in a mountainous region far from the Atlantic Ocean. Only 941 of 140,000 housing units in the county had active flood insurance policies, according to Swiss Re, a global insurance and reinsurance company.

On Saturday, the USA TODAY Network analysis of Helene deaths increased to 228.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center said another hurricane is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. The strengthening storm could soon hit Florida in the coming days.

Helene victims face another worry:Bears

Developments:

• The Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed indefinitely, according to park officials.
• A scar of power outages still cuts across the South marking where Helene’s deluge devastated communities, according to USA TODAY’s outage tracker on Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of outages have been reported, mostly in the Carolinas and Georgia.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering aid to both homeowners and small business owners affected by Helene. Payment can come in the form of a check or direct deposit, but it can only be used for specific means on lodging, repairs and generators. The Asheville Citizen-Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, reports on what’s covered for residents.
• North Carolina is set to receive $100 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help pay for emergency road work caused by Helene flood damage, the federal agency announced Saturday. The storm washed away roads and caused bridge collapses, including along I-40, the transportation department said.
• On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris visited North Carolina for a briefing on continued recovery efforts in the state. She’s expected to meet with people affected by Helene, see aid distribution, and provide updates on the federal response. Former President Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Friday, and he has backed a GoFundMe fundraiser that has raised over $6 million for people affected by Helene as of Saturday.

Another hurricane brews in Gulf of Mexico

Forecasters say another tropical cyclone brewing in the Gulf of Mexico will quickly strengthen into a hurricane (likely named Hurricane Milton) and race toward Florida in the next few days.

The system in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to develop into a "near major hurricane," the National Hurricane Center said Saturday morning. The forecast shows the storm approaching the Gulf coast of Florida with winds of 110 mph ahead of a possible mid-week landfall near Tampa.

(Read the full story here.)

- Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Not even Habitat for Humanity avoided Helene. How it recovers.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Not even Habitat for Humanity, headquartered alongside the Swannanoa River, avoided damage from Tropical Storm Helene. The nonprofit is pausing operations as it cleans up its Asheville-area property.

But in the long term, CEO Andy Barnett said Habitat for Humanity will be there to help Asheville rebuild.

“That’s really Habitat’s niche, and after disaster, unfortunately, we as an organization have been able to prove that all over the country,” Barnett said.

(Read the full story here.)

- Evan Gerike, Asheville Citizen-Times

In rural Georgia, it could be weeks before power comes back

At the peak of Helene’s fury, Jefferson Energy lost service to 100% of the 37,000 service locations in its 11-county area. More than a week after the storm, more than 14,700 customers were still in the dark as of Saturday afternoon.

“It’s going to be a multiple-week-long process,” Wayne Gossage Jr., president of Jefferson Energy, said.

Jefferson Energy serves a stretch of rural Georgia 90 miles north to south, from just north of Swainsboro up to Clark’s Hill Lake, and about 60 miles east to west, from the Savannah River in Augusta to the east side of Warrenton.

On Friday night, Augusta city officials announced the boil water advisory was lifted for residents and businesses. The city Utilities Department had issued the advisory Monday.

- Parrish Howard and Alexandra Koch, Augusta Chronicle

Asheville businesses determined to rebuild

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Helene ransacked businesses along the French Broad River, but owners of three beloved gathering spaces are determined not to let it be the end of their stories.

In the week following the unprecedented storm, leaders at DayTrip, High Five Coffee and Zillicoah Beer Co. are deep into assessing losses and assisting out-of-work staff, among other business and personal challenges. Yet they remain resilient and optimistic.  

“Asheville will be forever changed but the beautiful thing about our community is that it’s filled with small business owners that started out the same way we did,” Jeremy Chassner, co-owner of Zillicoah Beer Co., said.

(Read the full story here.)

- Tiana Kennell, Asheville Citizen-Times

In 'hurricane alley,' residents wonder how town returns

CANTON, N.C. – The faintest of drizzles fell on Donna Rymer's tarped-over belongings. It was enough to make her anxious.

"April showers bring May flowers — I don't want to see rain until April," Rymer said Friday afternoon, standing beside her basement doorway.

Rain and mud had battered the door just a week ago, with Tropical Storm Helene bringing floodwaters higher than she ever expected to see on the home she has lived in since childhood. Once the waters rose and receded, along with her shock, Rymer said she wondered, "Is our little town coming back?"

Canton has dealt with that question over several rough years.

Tropical Storm Fred deluged and damaged the town in 2021. Last year, more than 1,000 people lost their jobs when Canton's 115-year-old paper mill closed.

Seeing how the community has come together after the storm — neighbor helping neighbor — Rymer thinks the town will come back. So does Gov. Roy Cooper, who visited Canton on Friday.

(Read the full story here.)

- Douglas Sole, Asheville Citizen-Times

Frustrated survivors still search for cell service, days after destruction

BURNSVILLE, N.C. ‒ The ongoing loss of cell phone service in Hurricane Helene-impacted areas raises questions for survivors about safety, missed emergency warnings and the inability to reassure far-flung friends and family.

Helene knocked out power to wide swaths of the South with both high winds and flooding. The destruction also destroyed cell phone towers, severing communication for potentially millions of people. The lack of service is obvious across the region, as frustrated residents cluster near the few sites offering Wi-Fi or spotty cell service.

In the storm's aftermath, the town of Red Hill's 355 residents couldn’t call to check on loved ones. They couldn’t get news about road closures, who had gasoline or generators, and who needed help.

"No one knew if we were dead or alive," said Kacie Smith, 28, who runs the Red Hill general store.

(Read the full story here.)

‒ Trevor Hughes and Chris Kenning, USA TODAY

In South Carolina's Upstate region, recovery is a marathon, not a sprint

GREENVILLE, S.C. − Driving through Greenville a week after Hurricane Helene, two sights become familiar almost immediately: trees everywhere − on the streets, on houses, on interstate medians − and traffic lights with usually normal cycles serving as four-way stops.

However, residents know that's only the half of the story.

The assessments of just what the damage includes are ongoing. There's the accounting of how many felled trees have struck cars, ripped down roofs, and taken lives. Some still spend nights in the pitch dark and days in stuffy air, wondering when their light switches, stoves, and air conditioning may function again. Many are wondering — worrying − about friends in North Carolina they can't get ahold of.

Most of all, Upstate residents are bracing for the marathon − not sprint − that is storm relief and restoration.

(Read the full story here.)

‒ Sarah Clifton, Greenville News