“We are still finding survivors,” said North Carolina’s Buncombe County, the epicenter of the tragedy, where over 60 deaths have been confirmed. The update also mentioned that many residents remain isolated due to landslides and collapsed bridges.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families facing this heartbreak and tragedy,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said during a briefing in his state, where the confirmed death toll has risen to 33.
US President Joe Biden is on his second consecutive day of visiting affected states. On Thursday, he traveled to Florida, where Hurricane Helene hit the northern Gulf shore last week as a powerful Category 4 storm with winds reaching 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour.
Biden took an aerial tour of the coast to assess the damage, then walked through Keaton Beach, surveying the destruction of homes and buildings near the storm’s landfall. His next stop is Georgia.
