PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Torrential rains from the powerful Hurricane Helene left countless people stranded and homeless on Saturday, as rescue efforts were underway following a storm that claimed at least 64 lives, wreaked havoc across the U.S. Southeast, and left millions without power.
“I’ve never seen so many people without homes as I do right now,” said Janalea England of Steinhatchee, Florida, a small riverside town in the state’s rural Big Bend region. England has converted her commercial fish market into a donation center for neighbors and friends, many of whom were unable to insure their homes.
Helene made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane, slamming Florida’s Big Bend with winds of 140 mph (225 kph).
From there, the storm surged into Georgia, where Governor Brian Kemp surveyed the damage from the air on Saturday, describing scenes of splintered homes and debris-laden highways as if “a bomb had gone off.” Weakened but still dangerous, Helene dumped heavy rains over the Carolinas and Tennessee, causing rivers and creeks to overflow, stressing local dams.
In western North Carolina, landslides and flooding cut off the region, closing Interstate 40 and other roads. The closures even delayed East Tennessee State University’s football game against The Citadel, as the Buccaneers’ normally routine trip to Charleston, South Carolina, stretched into a 16-hour ordeal.