Live updates: Destruction and damage reported in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida from Helene

Live updates: Destruction and damage reported in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida from Helene

A damaged house and docks are pictured after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Keaton Beach, Florida, on Sept.

The deadly storm Helene, now a post-tropical cyclone, continues to produce “catastrophic flooding” over parts of the southern Appalachians and the Tennessee Valley. In western North Carolina, officials told residents to consider all roads closed.

At least 40 storm-related deaths have been reported in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and the numbers are expected to rise as cleanup continues.

Here’s some of what we’re following:

Lake Lure Dam near Asheville, N.C., is no longer in danger of failing. Nearby residents had been evacuated and told to get to higher ground immediately.

Over 50 patients and staff were stuck on the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tenn., as floodwaters rose before they were finally rescued.

Watch the Coast Guard rescue a man and his dog from a sinking boat, and a TV news reporter rescue a woman from her car.

Check out our map of member stations that have been covering the storm for updates on what’s happening on the ground. Tune into your local NPR station for more ongoing coverage.

More power outages are expected. Here’s how to prepare for them

By Rachel Treisman

Emma Bowman

Updated September 27, 2024 at 9:24 PM EDT

Posted September 27, 2024 at 9:24 PM EDT

Helene has left large swaths of the southeastern U.S. and southern Appalachian Mountains in darkness, with some 3.7 million homes and businesses out of power as of Friday night.

Although the worst of the storm is over, its heavy rains and wind are expected to trigger more power outages along its northwest path.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to prepare for a power outage. FEMA recommends the following tips:

Find alternate power sources, like batteries and portable chargers or power banks, to use when the power goes out. Make sure each member of the household has their own flashlight — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends battery-powered flashlights and lanterns as opposed to candles and gas torches, to minimize fire risk.

Disconnect appliances and electronics to avoid damage from electrical surges. Also, install carbon monoxide detectors with battery backup in central locations throughout your home to alert you to possible carbon monoxide poisoning (more on that below).

Prepare food and know how to store it. FEMA advises maintaining several days’ supply of nonperishable food and water, and keeping your fridge and freezer closed. It says a fridge will keep food cold for about four hours, and a full freezer will maintain its temperature for about 48 hours — you can use a thermometer to double check, and should toss the food out if the temperature reaches 40 degrees or higher.

Know your medical needs and make a power outage plan for any medical devices and refrigerated medicines. Ask your doctor for guidance about life-critical medications, including how long certain meds can be stored at higher-than-recommended temperatures.

The Lake Lure Dam outside Asheville, N.C., remained intact on Friday evening, hours after local officials warned of its “imminent” failure and issued an evacuation order.

County officials had been monitoring the dam after water overtopped it.

Lake Lure is famous for serving as a backdrop to several scenes in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.

Helene’s death toll rose to at least 40 people, the Associated Press reported, as more deaths were confirmed in South Carolina and Georgia. Falling trees were to blame for many of the deaths, authorities said.

In South Carolina, 19 people have died, including two firefighters who died when a tree struck their truck, local officials told the AP.

In Georgia, the death toll is 15, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp. At least two children were among the dead, reported local CBS station 13WMAZ.

NPR’s Debbie Elliot was in Dekle Beach along the Gulf Coast of Florida on Friday morning. She shared these photos of the damage in the area.

Many of the folks that I met today were really just sort of still in shock, taking stock as they looked out over their flattened communities.

In tiny Dekle Beach, neighbors were consoling one another, trying to salvage what they could from the few properties they could access.

I talked with Aaron Portwood and his wife … they grew up in this close-knit community, you could tell it was a very special place to them, and they fear they’ve lost their home.

“Our home is one of the very few that are still partially standing. The majority of our neighbors on our road and our canal, the homes are gone — there’s concrete slabs and stilts. Ours is still standing, but it’s gutted, it’s leaning, there’s no way to get up to it, the steps are gone. It’s destroyed,”

Debris left behind by Helene, along with flooding on the roadway in Dekle Beach, Florida.

Debbie Elliott

Looking out over the one road into Dekle, you can just see the remains of people’s homes strewn about in the marsh and in the trees. What look like maybe a set of stairs was actually dangling up high from a branch. It was surreal.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation said that all roads in the western part of the state should be considered “closed” due to many flooded and washed-out roads.

“I-40 and I-26 are impassable in multiple locations. All roads in Western North Carolina should be considered closed. Motorists should not travel in this area, should not attempt to drive through standing water, and must respect barricades and road closure signs,” NCDOT wrote on its travel advisory website.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol reported Friday around midday that a mudslide had closed a large section of Interstate 40, close to the North Carolina-Tennessee state line, according to member station Blue Ridge Public Radio.

Photos from motorists showed eastbound lanes of I-40 washed away, with the waters raging in the gorge underneath.

Earlier Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper confirmed one death in Catawba County resulting from a vehicle crash on a flooded road.

A member of the Nashville Fire Rescue goes door to door in the floodwaters from Hurricane Helene in the Shore Acres neighborhood Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Residents in the eye of Helene across several states are beginning to pick up the pieces left behind by the deadly storm.

Some residents in the hurricane-prone areas had no choice but to stay put and ride it out despite all of the warnings ahead of time.

Whether it’s first responders, people working in animal shelters, those with disabilities or people with a language barrier, the reality is often far more complicated for those who can’t quickly get up and evacuate to safety.

“It’s easy to think: Of course, people should just pack up and leave,” Cara Cuite, an assistant extension specialist in the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University, told NPR in 2022. But for “people with disabilities, those with pets or simply [if] you don’t have a car or enough money on hand to leave, that can make it really challenging.”

Evacuating away from a storm can be costly, and “many modest- to low-income households simply don’t have the cash or credit,” said Joshua Behr, research professor at Old Dominion University, in a 2018 interview with NPR.