Helene death toll surpasses 190 as North Carolina communities still inaccessible

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Harrowing stories of heartbreak and survival are emerging in the Southeast as recovery operations continue after Hurricane Helene made landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast last week, leaving more than 190 people dead and dozens missing.Helene is now the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland U.S. in the last 55 years, topped only by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the most since Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast in August 1969.HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF EFFORTSMore than 190 people have been confirmed dead in six states – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. That number is expected to rise as first responders continue to search for survivors and gain access to communities that were isolated after the flooding.President Joe Biden traveled to the region Wednesday to receive a briefing on the disaster and meet with first responders on the ground.This trip comes as Biden announced that he has ordered the deployment of up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support the delivery of essential food, water and other commodities to areas devastated by the storm. According to an announcement from the White House, that order is effective immediately, and those service members will be available to be deployed to the area as soon as possible.”I don’t have to tell this group that Hurricane Helene has been a storm of historic proportions. The damage is still being assessed, but many people are still unaccounted for. So I’m here to say: the United States – the nation – has your back,” Biden told emergency managers in the Tar Heel State.Biden is expected to travel to areas of Florida and Georgia in the coming days, according to the White House.HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHERLife-saving supplies are being brought in and distributed to communities that were hit hard by the storm, including areas of western North Carolina that were cut off from those rescue operations when catastrophic flooding destroyed hundreds of roads and bridges and cut off communications to those who were trapped with a dwindling supply of food and water.And for those who have a well and still have water, it’s advised to not drink it or use it for personal hygiene.”No one should consume water from private or shared water wells that have been flooded, that means well heads were covered with water, until the well has been tested for bacteria,” Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said on Wednesday.Hundreds of people have been rescued, and the search is continuing for hundreds more who haven’t been heard from since the deadly hurricane impacted the region.Roads and bridges have been washed away, and communications have been almost non-existent after the floodwaters destroyed critical infrastructure.Officials in hard-hit Buncombe County say they have partnered with Verizon to bring in mobile cell towers to help restore some service, and officials are hopeful that will help aid in the search for those who are missing.Aid has been flowing into hard-hit areas of western North Carolina, but the destruction and mountainous terrain have made it difficult to get life-saving supplies to those who need it.Time is of the essence, and while food, water and medical supplies have reached some victims, not everyone has been reached.”FEMA is working with us on the ground,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said on Tuesday. “In addition to other help, they’ve delivered about 1 million liters of water and more than 600,000 meals to North Carolina so far.”Asheville sits about 2,100 feet above sea level, and the mountains reach much higher above the town.Other communities, such as Chimney Rock, sit high in the mountains, and the steep terrain and thick forest make it difficult for rescuers to reach homes. More than 70 people are now confirmed dead in North Carolina, with dozens of those coming from Buncombe County, which is home to the city of Asheville.Scenes from small towns such as Chimney Rock, Swannanoa and Biltmore Village show entire sections of the region either destroyed or washed away due to the flooding.Stories of heartbreak and loss fill the close-knit communities as a barrage of devastating images come in, showing the scale of the destruction caused by what some call “biblical” flooding.An Asheville mother tearfully recounted how she lost her 7-year-old son and her parents when the floodwaters overwhelmed her neighborhood, sending her family to the roof of their home as they scrambled for safety.VIDEO SHOWS CHIMNEY ROCK COMPLETELY DESTROYED AS HELENE UNLEASHES CATASTROPHIC FLOODING ACROSS NORTH CAROLINAHowever, the floodwaters eventually broke apart the home, sending all four into the river.”(My son) reached for something past flesh, past human, past anything that even grown adults, I think, would reach for,” Meghan Drye said. “My son called out to the one God Almighty. And I think at that moment he was rescued, and he became my hero, and I think all of them carried me through that moment.”   In Avery County, a harrowing video provided by Vlado Novakovic showed his home in Newland being swept away Friday by the powerful currents.Others narrowly escaped the wrath of the flash floods. A couple in Lake Luna had to run for it when floodwaters started pouring into town.More than 100 people required rescuing in northeastern Tennessee from Helene’s floods. At least nine people have died, and others remain missing as search efforts continue.At Impact Plastics in Erwin, two people died and five others were rescued by a National Guard helicopter crew during the flooding.  Erwin was devastated when the Nolichucky River overwhelmed the town with record-high water levels. At one point. dozens of patients and staff were trapped on the roof of the hospital. The flooding also sparked fears of a dam collapse.DOWNLOAD THE FREE FOX WEATHER APPIn order to help existing water supplies last longer and support ongoing recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene, officials have issued a mandatory water conservation order for all or parts of nine counties that were impacted by the storm in Upper East Tennessee.”Our thoughts and prayers remain with our fellow Tennesseans dealing with the severity of damage caused by the storm,” said Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Commissioner David Salyers. “In this critical time of limited resources, clean water is essential for recovery, and we call upon all citizens in these affected areas to conserve as much water as is possible.” TDEC said many local water utilities are no longer operational or have been cut off from distrubution systems, and those water conservation measures aim to help existing water supplies last longer.The water conservation order is in addition to a boil water advisory that was also put into place after the storm.At least 25 people were killed in Georgia when Hurricane Helene made its trek across portions of the eastern and central U.S. last week, and cleanup efforts there are well underway.Atlanta saw its first-ever Flash Flood Emergency due to record rain across the region, and power is slowly being restored.The damage in Augusta is widespread, with trees and other debris still lying across roads, on homes and on vehicles.WATCH: CASKET RUSHES BY IN RAGING TENNESSEE FLOODWATER CAUSED BY HELENE”It’s my house,” Crystal Watson told FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Tyler Fingert. “I’ve lived here for my daughter’s entire life.”She said that when Hurricane Helene was impacting the area, four trees went crashing down onto her home, narrowly missing two bedrooms where people were sleeping.Damage isn’t only localized to Augusta, however.On Monday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp got a bird’s-eye view of the devastation.”This hurricane, it looks like a 250-mile-wide tornado hit,” he said.Among the dead in Georgia are a 27-year-old mother and her 1-month-old twin boys who died when a tree fell onto their mobile home outside Augusta.Kemp said he’s working with federal partners to get help to areas that need it most.”This storm literally spared no one,” he said.