More than 1,000 missing in NC county devastated by Hurricane Helene

In a North Carolina county hard hit by Hurricane Helene, more than 1,000 people are missing and 10 have been confirmed dead on Sunday. Buncombe County authorities released the tragic toll in an emergency meeting for locals to learn about crisis medical shelters and the status of rescue operations in areas flooded by the Category 4 storm., the New York Post reported.

Officials have established an emergency website to seek and coordinate assistance in finding those who remain unaccounted for. Hurricane Helene demolished the small town of Steinhatchee, Florida, wiping it “off the map” in its murderous swing through the South.

“This is insanely sad,” Olivia Rondeau posted on X. “The below image was posted from Asheville NC by Jessica Drye Turner moments before the roof collapsed. She survived, but her parents in the bottom right corner and her 6-year-old nephew drowned.”

“We’re doing the best we can,” Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said while explaining that the storm conditions continue to make it difficult to impossible to traverse roads that are flooded or littered with the remnants of fractured buildings. It is hoped that many of the missing are simply unable to communicate their safety or whereabouts due to a loss of electrical power.

Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) says he expects the number of dead to rise dramatically. “We know there will be more,” he said Sunday, the Post reported.

Thanks to a quick response time from search and rescue teams, 40 people were saved from potential death in the Ashville area, including one baby. Both social media and 911 calls dispatchers have been working together to alert crisis teams to relevant locations. Food and water is being airlifted to communities where it is desperately required and emergency crews are working around the clock to restore communication, power and road access.

As of Sunday afternoon, Helene is responsible for the deaths of at least 60 people, the Post noted. Millions are without power. “It’s been about 24 hours since we last heard from my parents,” Katie Pate of Fairfax, Virginia, posted on X. “The SPRUCE PINE / BURNSVILLE area of WNC has been decimated by the storm. I recognize cellular service is deeply impacted. I also recognize maybe there is emergency info. I haven’t seen yet.”

In Texas, Jessica Drye Turner sent out an urgent plea for someone to save her family who have ascended to the roof of their house to escape the flood waters. “They are watching 18 wheelers and cars floating by,” Turner wrote on Facebook Friday. “I cannot convey in words the sorrow, heartbreak and devastation my sisters and I are going through nor imagine the pain before us,” she wrote.