Admin October 5, 2024
Dolly Parton, her businesses give $2 million to Helene cleanup efforts
Dolly Parton’s vast charity arrived to aid Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene through a partnership with Walmart to assist with relief efforts.
Costs from Helene’s path of destruction across the southeastern U.S. are expected to surpass $30 billion, one analysis shows.
The estimates account for wind loss, insured and uninsured storm surge, and inland flood loss for residential and commercial properties across 16 states, according to CoreLogic, a California-based financial and consumer analytics company that tallied losses. Helene, which first hit Florida as a category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, is estimated to have caused between $10.5 and $17.5 billion of insured losses alone.
Helene’s path caused extensive flooding in several areas without insurance, Monica Ningen, CEO of U.S. Property & Casualty Reinsurance at Swiss Re, said, adding this will “make the task of rebuilding the communities impacted all the more difficult.”
Take Buncombe County, North Carolina, which includes Asheville, where much of the devastation has happened in a mountainous region far from the Atlantic Ocean. Only 941 of 140,000 housing units in the county had active flood insurance policies, according to Swiss Re, a global insurance and reinsurance company.
More than 200 people have died in Helene’s path, making it the fourth-deadliest hurricane in the mainland U.S. since 1950.
Helene victims face another worry: Bears
Developments:
- A scar of power outages still cuts across the South marking where Helene’s deluge devastated communities, according to USA TODAY’s outage tracker on Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of outages have been reported, mostly in the Carolinas and Georgia.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering aid to both homeowners and small business owners affected by Helene. Payment can come in the form of a check or direct deposit, but it can only be used for specific means on lodging, repairs and generators. The Asheville Citizen-Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, reports on what’s covered for residents.
- On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to return to North Carolina for a briefing on continued recovery efforts in the state, her office said. She’s expected to meet with people affected by Helene, see aid distribution, and provide updates on the federal response. Former President Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Friday, and he has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser that has raised $5.8 million for people affected by Helene as of Saturday.
Frustrated survivors still search for cell service, days after destruction
BURNSVILLE, North Carolina ‒ The ongoing loss of cell phone service in Hurricane Helene-impacted areas raises questions for survivors about safety, missed emergency warnings and the inability to reassure far-flung friends and family.
Helene knocked out power to wide swaths of the South with both high winds and flooding. The destruction also destroyed cell phone towers, severing communication for potentially millions of people. The lack of service is obvious across the region, as frustrated residents cluster near the few sites offering Wi-Fi or spotty cell service.
In the storm’s aftermath, the town of Red Hill’s 355 residents couldn’t call to check on loved ones. They couldn’t get news about road closures, who had gasoline or generators, and who needed help.
“No one knew if we were dead or alive,” said Kacie Smith, 28, who runs the Red Hill general store.
(Read the full story here.)
‒ Trevor Hughes and Chris Kenning, USA TODAY
In South Carolina’s Upstate region, recovery is a marathon, not a sprint
GREENVILLE, S.C. − Driving through Greenville a week after Hurricane Helene, two sights become familiar almost immediately: trees everywhere − on the streets, on houses, on interstate medians − and traffic lights with usually normal cycles serving as four-way stops.
However, residents know that’s only the half of the story.
The assessments of just what the damage includes are ongoing. There’s the accounting of how many felled trees have struck cars, ripped down roofs, and taken lives. Some still spend nights in the pitch dark and days in stuffy air, wondering when their light switches, stoves, and air conditioning may function again. Many are wondering — worrying − about friends in North Carolina they can’t get ahold of.
Most of all, Upstate residents are bracing for the marathon − not sprint − that is storm relief and restoration.
(Read the full story here.)
‒ Sarah Clifton, Greenville News
