'No one was expecting this': Grueling searches resume in NC: Helene live updates

ASHEVILLE, N.C. − Search and rescue operations across western North Carolina made some headway Tuesday as authorities worked to clear roads and provide electricity, running water and cellular service to communities struggling since the furious assault of Hurricane Helene and its remnants.

The storm killed more than 100 people across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, and the death toll is expected to climb as recovery efforts progress. Hundreds of people have been reported missing, a number that is expected to decline as more telecommunications come back on line and emergency workers access remote areas.

North Carolina took the worst hit, and President Joe Biden is schedule to visit the state Wednesday and conduct an aerial tour of the devastation. More than 1,500 state transportation workers were rolling Thursday in 1,500 trucks armed with 1,000 chainsaws working to clear roads.

"As we begin another day of storm rescue and relief efforts, we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all first response teams working to help save lives," the state emergency management offices said in a social media post Tuesday, adding, "stay safe."

Jannette Montenegro was caked in mud cleaning out her historic building, Cotton Mill Studios, as the water has receded in Asheville's badly flooded River Arts District.

“We tried to get out as much as we could, but no one was expecting this,” she said.

Tropical storm tracker:Hurricane center watching Kirk, 2 other disturbances in the Atlantic

Developments:

∎ Former President Donald Trump's fundraiser to benefit victims of Hurricane Helene has raised almost $3 million as of Tuesday. Read more here.

∎ About 1.5 million homes and businesses across Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia remained without power early Thursday.

∎ Officials in North Carolina's Buncombe County, home to Asheville, said 40 deaths have been confirmed there so far. The Associated Press reported the national death toll from Helene was at least 133.

∎ The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction said all inmates were safe. Several facilities were operating on generator power but none had flooded, the department said.

Biden to visit North Carolina:Will tour Helene damage as Trump chides response

Hurricane 'will not stop how we do elections'

North Carolina election officials are scrambling to ensure over 7 million registered voters can cast ballots on Nov. 5 despite overwhelming damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure across the western part of the state. North Carolina is electing a governor, congressional representatives, a state Legislature and is one of several battleground states that could determine the next U.S. president.

"The destruction is unprecedented, and this level of uncertainty, this close to Election Day is daunting," Karen Brinson-Bell, head of the state's Board of Elections, said Tuesday.

She said she expects to have a full assessment of the storm's impact on election facilities and other issues by the end of the week. But she said Helene will not "stop how we do elections. Just because there's been a hurricane, we might have to do it a little differently."

Hurricane one-two punch too much for some

SUWANNEE, Fla. − Billie Mincks loves this small coastal community. But after the battering of Hurricane Idalia last year and now Hurricane Helene, he thinks it’s time to go. When he spoke to the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida after Idalia, he didn’t know how long he’d be displaced. Unlike some residents of the Dixie County community of about 300, his rental home repairs had been completed and he was again living in it with his wife, Tori Johnston. Then came Helene, and when he returned to his house he found it destroyed. 

“I just can’t do this again,” Mincks said while waiting to receive food and other supplies being issued by relief organizations. “Helene was so much worse, it made Idalia look like a small thing.” Read more here.

− Douglas Soule, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida

Helene floodwaters swept factory workers away

In hard-hit Erwin, Tennessee, a group of employees at Impact Plastics clung to spools of flexible yellow plastic pipes on the back of a semitruck for hours Friday waiting for help as the swollen Nolichucky River raged around them. But the truck toppled over, and at least seven people were swept away and remain missing or have died.

Jacob Ingram, who has worked at Impact Plastics for almost eight months, said as waters rose outside, managers wouldn’t let employees leave. Instead, managers told workers to move their cars away from the rising water, Ingram said. The company denied ordering workers not to leave.

"We are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees,” founder and CEO Gerald O’Connor said in a statement.

− Tyler Whetsone, Knoxville News Sentinel

Factory employees' harrowing tale:Helene floodwaters swept them away

Mountain terrain, monstrous rain triggered catastrophic flooding

Forecasters had warned that Hurricane Helene would become a "once-in-a-generation" storm for portions of the Appalachians, and the forecast proved tragically accurate. Helene’s rainfall would have been enough to cause flooding anywhere, but it was exacerbated by a weather front that had stalled over the Appalachians before then-Tropical Storm Helene arrived, said David Easterling, a rain expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina.

The mountains themselves in some places further enhanced the rainfall because they contribute to the lift that produces more rain in thunderstorms, Easterling said. High winds were taking trees down and knocking out power lines, as well as the mudslides and landslides that were taking poles down throughout the area, he said.

“You just get a mudslide and you might end up with 5 to 10 feet of mud,” he said. “There’s no telling how much loss of life there has been." Read more here.

− Doyle Rice and Dinah Voyles Pulver

Helene's brutal toll:More than 100 dead; Biden to survey damage: Monday updates

Town's promising revitalization devastated by Helene

MARSHALL, N.C. – Marshall was a bustling Appalachian town with big department stores before its fortunes waned and buildings became vacant. But in recent years, it had undergone a revival, renewed by an influx of art, music and dining. The once-dilapidated jailhouse has been turned into a boutique hotel and restaurant.

Now the downtown has been shattered by Hurricane Helene: Streets full of thick mud. Mangled debris. Twisted train tracks and overturned vehicles.

Residents in Marshall − like elsewhere in Western North Carolina just a couple of days after the storm − are scrambling to find what they needed without power or phones as National Guard helicopters buzz above the area.

“It’s a tragedy,” said Keaton Griffin, as he shoveled mud and debris into a wheelbarrow. Read more here.

− Chris Kenning

On the waterfront of destruction:North Carolina town tries to stay afloat

They came to Asheville for healing. All they see is destruction

Taylor Houchens moved to Asheville about four years ago for healing. The mountains, the forests, the lakes − they all called to the licensed professional counselor, as they have to countless others who've journeyed to the North Carolina city looking to relax, reset and rejuvenate. As a result, Asheville has drawn a thriving local wellness community, one that includes all manner of mental health practitioners, holistic coaches and healers.

Now, in the wake of Hurricane Helene, that community has been devastated − and Houchens says he isn't sure where to go from here.

"It's devastation. It's apocalyptic. It's tragic," Houchens, who specializes in trauma therapy, says on a phone call while driving to stay with his family in Savannah, Georgia. Read more here.

− Charles Trepany

Contributing: Reuters