Biden Sends 1,000 Troops as Helene Death Toll Climbs to 175

Hurricane Helene's Catastrophic Impact in 100 Seconds

US President Joe Biden has deployed an additional 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support aid efforts in the southeastern US, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.

These tro ops will join the 6,000 National Guard members and 4,800 federal aid workers already deployed across six states affected by the severe weather.

The death toll from Hurricane Helene has risen to at least 175, making it one of the deadliest storms in recent US history. Hundreds more are still unaccounted for, with search and rescue teams facing challenges in reaching remote areas.

Aid deliveries have been conducted through airdrops and using mules, with the US government warning that the recovery efforts could take years.
President Biden is set to visit the severely affected regions of North Carolina and South Carolina, while Vice President Kamala Harris will head to neighboring Georgia. Both states are critical swing states ahead of the November presidential election, and the storm has already taken on a political dimension, as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visited Georgia earlier this week.
Hurricane Helene struck the US on Thursday as a Category 4 storm, marking it as the strongest hurricane on record to hit Florida's Big Bend before moving through neighboring states and weakening to a tropical storm.

The rainclouds associated with Hurricane Helene were unusually large, and the storm lingered for extended periods, exacerbating the situation. The already saturated ground from previous rains further contributed to the devastation.
CBS News, in partnership with the BBC, has reported a total of 175 deaths across six states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia. This toll surpasses that of Hurricane Ian, which claimed at least 156 lives in September 2022, marking it as one of the deadliest storms of the 21st century.

Volunteers have described Helene as "the worst natural disaster we've seen." For more insights, you can view a collection of images showcasing the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene.
According to CBS, nearly half of the deaths from Hurricane Helene occurred in North Carolina, where the state experienced six months' worth of rainfall. The mountainous regions were particularly hard-hit, leading to significant flooding that washed away homes and bridges.

An emergency official in Buncombe County, which includes the heavily affected city of Asheville, described the situation as “biblical devastation.” One volunteer involved in relief efforts recounted a heart-wrenching story of a woman who had previously lost everything in Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After relocating to Asheville, she found herself devastated once more nearly two decades later. 

Seems like she’s starting over from scratch again,” the volunteer said. “She has no drinking water, no gasoline, and the food in her fridge has gone bad.

The extreme weather has also led to the closure of mines in Spruce Pine, home to the world’s largest known source of high-purity quartz.

In Tennessee, authorities are investigating a plastics factory where 11 workers were swept away by rushing floodwaters on Friday. While five employees were rescued, two have been confirmed dead, and four others remain missing. Impact Plastics stated they had monitored weather conditions at their Erwin plant and dismissed employees as water began to flood the parking lot and adjacent service road, causing a loss of power. However, some employees alleged they were told to continue working until it was too late to evacuate safely.

Jacob Ingram, a mold changer at the factory, filmed himself and four others awaiting rescue as debris and vehicles were carried away by the rising waters. “I was working at Impact when the storm hit yesterday,” he posted on Facebook, noting that he and 11 others were trapped on the back of a semi-truck. “I'm lucky to be alive.”

Rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Helene could take years, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. President Biden has permitted survivors to apply for federal assistance by issuing disaster declarations across multiple states.

On Monday, Biden mentioned reports indicating that up to 600 people were unaccounted for, stating, "God willing, they're alive. But there's no way to contact them again because of the lack of cell phone coverage." 
As of Wednesday morning, over a million residents in some of the affected states remained without power, according to monitoring site Poweroutage.us.

Initial analyses suggest that human-induced climate change significantly contributed to the extreme rainfall experienced during the storm. Following Helene’s impact late Thursday, record flood crests were recorded in at least seven locations across North Carolina and Tennessee, with some records dating back to the "Great Flood" of July 1916 being shattered in parts of western North Carolina.
The Atlantic hurricane season continues until the end of November, and with above-average water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, there is a possibility of even more powerful storms developing.