Nearly a week after Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast, the Category 4 storm has killed nearly 200 people and caused widespread destruction.
Nearly a week after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast, the death toll approaches 200 as the search for missing individuals intensifies and power outages continue across the region.
The Category 4 hurricane reached maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and made landfall late Thursday at the meeting point of Florida’s Panhandle and peninsula, a rural region filled with fishing villages and vacation hideaways.
Officials have reported 202 deaths across six states due to the storm, according to NBC News.
The death toll includes at least 98 victims in North Carolina, 19 in Florida, 33 in Georgia, 39 in South Carolina, 11 in Tennessee and two in Virginia.
Georgia officials announced eight additional deaths on Thursday, while western Florida authorities reported one more death.
North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.
The Weather Channel reported Helene became the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, causing damage across an area spanning 400 miles.
Helene is the most significant hurricane since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
