Helene latest: Death toll climbs to 56, millions without power

Hurricane Helene's remnants dissipated Saturday, but widespread flooding is still a concern in southern Appalachia. 

At least 56 people were killed across five states, including 23 people in South Carolina and 11 in Florida, and entire homes and downtowns were washed away in the southern Appalachian Mountains as the deadly storm moved from Florida’s Big Bend region to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee in Virginia. 

Officials say the death toll is sure to rise. 

Among those killed in the storm were three firefighters, a woman and her 1-month-old twins, and an 89-year-old woman whose house was struck by a falling tree. 

Helene is now considered a post-tropical system after coming onshore Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane, but its devastating effects are still being felt by millions of people. 

As of Saturday evening, power outages persisted across 10 states, affecting over 3 million customers – a slight improvement from the peak of the storm, when 4.7 million were without power.

A record-breaking 28 Flash Flood Emergencies were issued across the Southeast Friday, including in Georgia, western North Carolina, parts of South Carolina and Virginia. It’s the most Flash Flood Emergencies issued in a single day nationwide.

Helene in Tennessee

An even more dire flood threat along the Nolichucky River in East Tennessee appeared to subside Saturday after officials announced that the Nolichucky Dam in Greenville "remains intact." 

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a dire Flash Flood Emergency late Friday when it seemed the dam was teetering on the verge of collapse, threatening imminent danger to communities downstream. 

The NWS warned that if the dam fails, the initial flood wave —a wall of water— would reach populated roads in just 20 minutes.

The town of Erwin is also along the path of danger from the Nolichucky River. On Friday, dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from the roof of a hospital that was surrounded by water from the flooded Nolichucky.

Some 54 people were moved to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin while water rapidly flooded the facility. 

Around 2-4 inches of additional rain is likely from Western Tennessee into Ohio. Additional rain is expected in the Northern Appalachian Mountains. Helene's lingering effects should finally exit the Northeast late Tuesday into Wednesday.

Helene in North Carolina

In North Carolina, the storm's torrential rains caused catastrophic flooding, particularly in the Asheville area. Videos on social media show devastating damage in Asheville, Boone and Rocky Mount, where an EF3 tornado touched down and injured 15 people. 

In hard-hit Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, authorities said they know people died but aren’t announcing anything because communication outages haven’t allowed them to reach relatives of the victims.

Western North Carolina was essentially cut off because or landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads.

Officials said Friday that a "catastrophic failure" was not taking place at Walters Dam, also known as the Waterville Dam, which sits in North Carolina close to the Tennessee border.

A local mayor had urged residents to evacuate due to the dam potentially breaking, but TEMA said in a statement that the "dam has not failed" after talking to Duke Energy, which owns the nearly 100-year-old dam.

The Lake Lure Dam in western North Carolina had water pouring over its tops, but the dam has not failed. 

Helene in South Carolina

At least 23 people died in South Carolina, but officials fear that number will rise once the scope of the devastation is revealed. 

Widespread flooding, downed trees and wind damage have been reported. 

Helene in Georgia

Utilities in Georgia continue to warn that it will take a significant amount of time to restore remaining electrical outages. Georgia Power Co. said Saturday morning that while it had restored power to more than 450,000 customers, more than 525,000 of its 2.6 million customers remained without electricity. Georgia Electric Membership Corp., which represents electric cooperatives, said it had restored more than 110,000 outages but nearly 320,000 remain.

"Unfortunately, treacherous conditions remain across the state with crews navigating extensive tree damage, persisting flooding conditions and many road closures," said Georgia Power, the state’s only private electric utility, in a news release.

The electric cooperatives continued to warn of serious damage to high-voltage transmission lines and the substations that convert high-voltage power into the electricity that is delivered to customers.

Atlanta experienced its first-ever Flash Flood Emergency, breaking a 138-year-old rainfall record with 11.18 inches in two days. This caused severe flooding that submerged entire neighborhoods. 

At least 15 deaths were reported in Georgia. 

The storm brought widespread devastation, particularly in areas from Valdosta to Augusta, Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday. 

"The line from Valdosta to Augusta, and anything to the right or east of that, was very hard hit. But even counties on the left side of that storm still took a lot of high winds. It was a Category 2 hurricane when it hit Georgia — that's really unprecedented for us," he said. 

Officials in Grovetown, a suburb of Augusta, Georgia, are inviting people to bring their thawing meat to the city garage to cook it for workers and residents.

"We are feeding the community and our crews while supplies last," the city wrote on its Facebook page.

More than 99% of customers in Columbia County, Georgia, which includes Grovetown, remained without electricity Saturday according to PowerOutage.us. Georgia Power Co., the dominant electricity provider in the county, says it doesn’t yet have an estimate when power will be restored.

Helene in Florida

Helene's storm surge caused catastrophic damage along Florida's Gulf Coast, where nearly a half million still remain without power Saturday morning. The Big Bend region experienced surges exceeding 15 feet, while Clearwater Beach and Tampa saw their highest levels in decades. 

The small barrier island of Treasure Island was particularly devastated, with widespread flooding and property damage.

At least 11 deaths were reported in Florida.

Ten of the 11 people who died in Florida as a result of Hurricane Helene lived in the Tampa Bay area, officials said Saturday. The other victim was killed when a tree fell on a house in Dixie County, in north Florida.

Nine of the victims lived in mandatory evacuation zones in Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg is located along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Each of those victims drowned in their homes, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. They ranged in age from 37 to 89.

The other victim died when a sign fell onto a car in Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood.

In the wealthy enclave of Davis Islands in Tampa, where star athletes like Derek Jeter and Tom Brady have lived, residents were continuing to clean up Saturday from storm surge left by Helene.

The neighborhoods that sit just off Tampa’s downtown and are home to about 5,000 people had never seen storm surge like it had Friday. No one died, but homes, businesses and apartments were flooded.