By Erik Verduzco, Jeff Amy and Kimberlee Kruesi
Associated Press
SWANNANOA, N.C. 鈥� President Joe Biden will survey the devastation in North and South Carolina on Wednesday as rescuers continue their search for anyone still unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage across the Southeast and killed at least 166 people.
Many residents in both states were still without running water, cellular service and electricity as floodwaters receded and revealed more of the death and destruction left in Helene鈥檚 path.
鈥淲e have to jump-start this recovery process,鈥� Biden said Tuesday, estimating it will cost billions. 鈥淧eople are scared to death. This is urgent.鈥�
While Biden is in the Carolinas, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in neighboring Georgia.
Helene, one of the deadliest storms in recent U.S. history, and cellular service for millions. More than 1.2 million customers still were in the dark early Wednesday in the Carolinas and Georgia. Some residents cooked food on charcoal grills or hiked to high ground in the hopes of finding a signal to let loved ones know they are alive.
On Tuesday, cadaver dogs and search crews trudged through knee-deep muck and debris in the mountains of western North Carolina looking for more victims. At least 57 people were killed in Buncombe County alone, home to city of Asheville, known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.
In Swannanoa, a small community outside Asheville, receding floodwaters revealed cars stacked on top of others and trailer homes that had floated away during the storm. Roads were caked with mud and debris and pockmarked by sinkholes.
Cliff Stewart survived two feet of water that poured into his home, topping the wheels on his wheelchair and sending his medicine bottles floating from room to room. Left without electricity and reliant on food drop-offs from friends, he has refused offers to help him leave.
鈥淲here am I going to go?鈥� the Marine Corps veteran said. 鈥淭his is all I鈥檝e got. I just don鈥檛 want to give it up, because what am I going to do? Be homeless? I鈥檇 rather die right here than live homeless.鈥�
鈥淐ommunities were wiped off the map,鈥� North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference.
Across the border in , a caravan including Gov. Bill Lee surveying damage outside the town of Erwin drove by a crew pulling two bodies from the wreckage, a grim reminder that the rescue and recovery operations are still very much ongoing and the death toll is likely to rise.
In Augusta, Georgia, Sherry Brown was converting power from the alternator of her car to keep her refrigerator running. She has been taking 鈥渂ird baths鈥� with water collected in coolers. In another part of the city, people waited in line more than three hours to get water from one of five centers set up to serve more than 200,000 people.
What is being done to help?
Exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded by the storm, which killed at least 166 people in six states, including many who were hit by falling trees or trapped in flooded cars and homes. Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, while dozens of others were in South Carolina and Georgia.
More than 150,000 households have registered for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to rise rapidly in the coming days, said Frank Matranga, an agency representative.
Nearly 2 million ready-to-eat meals and more than a million liters of water have been sent to the hardest-hit areas, he said.
The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina, dumping more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of in places.
Cooper鈥檚 administration said Tuesday that more than two dozen water plants remained closed. Active-duty U.S. military units may be needed to assist the long-term recovery, he said, adding that Biden had given 鈥渢he green light鈥� to mobilizing military assets soon.
A section of one of the region鈥檚 main arteries, Interstate 40, reopened Tuesday after a mudslide was cleared, but a collapsed stretch near North Carolina鈥檚 border with Tennessee remained closed.
How some of the hardest-hit areas are coping
Residents and business owners wore masks and gloves while clearing debris Tuesday in Hot Springs, North Carolina, where almost every building along the tiny town鈥檚 main street was heavily damaged.
Sarah Calloway, who owns the deli and gourmet grocery Vaste Riviere Provisions, said the storm arrived in town frighteningly quickly. She helped fill sandbags the day the night before, but they turned out to be useless. The water rose so rapidly that even though she and others were in an apartment on an upper floor, she feared they would not be safe. They called to request a rescue from a swift water team.
鈥淭hey tried to get to us, and at that point they couldn鈥檛,鈥� she said. 鈥淟uckily, that was when the water started to recede.鈥�
鈥淚t was really challenging to watch how quickly it rose up and then just to watch whole buildings floating down the river. It was something I can鈥檛 even describe,鈥� she said.
In the Black Mountain Mobile Home Park in Swannanoa on Tuesday, Carina Ramos and Ezekiel Bianchi were overwhelmed by the damage. The couple, their children and dog fled in the predawn darkness on Friday as the Swannanoa River鈥檚 rapidly rising waters began flooding the bottom end of the park.
By then, trees were blocking the roads and the couple abandoned their three vehicles, all of which flooded.
鈥淲e left everything because we were panicking,鈥� Ramos said.
Their children were staying with Ramos鈥� parents and did not want to even see the devastated trailer.
鈥淢y daughter was crying, panicking,鈥� Ramos said. 鈥淪he says she doesn鈥檛 want to see her room full of toys, all thrown everywhere.鈥�
Mobile service knocked out
The widespread damage and outages affecting communications infrastructure left many people without stable access to the internet and cellular service.
Mayor Zeb Smathers of Canton, North Carolina, expressed frustration Tuesday that so many of his constituents were still without cell service and given no clear timetable for when it would be restored.
鈥淧eople are walking the streets of Canton with their phones up in the air trying to catch a cellphone signal like it鈥檚 a butterfly,鈥� he told The Associated Press. 鈥淓very single aspect of this response has been extremely crippled by lack of cellphone communication. The one time we absolutely needed our cellphones to work they failed.鈥�
Teams from Verizon were working to repair downed cell towers, damaged fiber cables and provide alternative forms of connectivity across the region, the company said in a statement.
AT&T, meanwhile, said it launched 鈥渙ne of the largest mobilizations of our disaster recovery assets for emergency connectivity support.鈥�
The efforts to restore service was made more challenging by the region鈥檚 terrain and spread-out population, said David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries.
Destruction from Florida to Virginia
Helene as a Category 4 hurricane and upended life throughout the Southeast, where deaths were also reported in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.
Across Georgia, Helene鈥檚 inland path knocked out power and shattered lives from Valdosta to Augusta, where a line of cars waiting to get water Tuesday stretched at least a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) down the road.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been rough,鈥� said Kristie Nelson, who had no idea when her electricity would be restored. 鈥淚鈥檓 just dying for a hot shower.鈥�
With at least 36 killed in South Carolina, Helene passed the 35 people who were killed in the state after made landfall north of Charleston in 1989.
When Tennessee Gov. Lee flew to the eastern part of the state to survey damage on Tuesday, residents said the governor and his entourage were the first help they had seen since the storm hit.
鈥淲here has everyone been?鈥� one frustrated local asked. 鈥淲e have been here alone.鈥�
