HURRICANE HELENE DEATH TOLL SURGES TO 64: ‘Looks like a bomb went off.’
The death toll from Hurricane Helene surged to 64 people Saturday evening as the powerful storm caused widespread destruction across the southeast.
Among the dead are three firefighters, a mother and her 1-month-old twins and an 89-year-old woman who was struck by a tree that hit her house.
Eleven of the confirmed deaths came from Florida, including nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation area on the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County, officials said.
The total death toll is only expected to rise as recovery efforts continue — rescuers boosted searches Saturday after the monstrous storm was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.
Dozens of other municipalities reported deaths, but have not released specifics, citing downed cell towers that have hindered efforts to contact next of kin.
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I feel like the victims of Helene dropped off the radar immediately. This is a Katrina-like situation with people shut off from help and dying on their rooftops. How is this only a local story? https://t.co/ty9PyXByJQ
— Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) September 29, 2024
That’s an easy one: There’s a Democratic president in the White House who is asleep (literally and figuratively) at the wheel, but the DNC-MSM won’t be creating any Katrina-style myths to damage the chances of his would-be successor so close to an election.