In a post-storm briefing this morning, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the devastation of Helene “beyond belief.”

“Communities were wiped off the map. Dozens of lives lost. Hundreds of roads remain damaged or impassable. Communication has been difficult due to cellphone and power outages,” he said.

More than 360,000 in the state remain without power as of 11 a.m. ET, more than 1,100 people have been housed in 11 different shelters, more than 400 roads are closed or impassable, and some parts of western North Carolina have still not been reached by responders.

There are 92 search and rescue teams continuing to work in the state. The state’s National Guard has already rescued an estimated 500 people, officials said. Ground forces are expected to push further into the western part of the state and guardsmen should be in every affected county by this afternoon.

Officials noted that the stall in power and cell service has made it difficult for people to reach their missing loved ones. The American Red Cross has set up a reunification website for Helene-impacted southeastern state. 

The western North Carolina town of Canton is working to restore utilities after being inundated by Helene’s floodwaters. An emergency water station has been set up for residents.

Kim Ashby, a North Carolina middle school teacher, was last seen floating in a river after her home was swept away in Helene floodwaters, her family says.

Ashby had gone with her husband to their vacation property near the Elk River to remove valuables when Helene hit the region last week, her daughter Jessica Meidinger, told NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh.

When Ashby’s husband opened the front door Friday, he saw "a quarter of the house had already been washed away" in the surging river, Meidinger said. “As soon as he saw that, he was running inside and told her to get dressed,” she added.

A public health emergency was declared today for South Carolina and Tennessee, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced.

It follows similar declarations for Florida, Georgia and North Carolina to address the "health impacts" of Hurricane Helene.

“We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as with our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support,” Becerra said in a statement. 

Public health emergency declarations give health care providers and suppliers “greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries,” the statement said.

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, under HHS, has deployed 200 personnel, including health care situational assessment teams that will assess Helene’s impacts to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities. 

Angel Mitchell was visiting her mother at Unicoi County Hospital in Tennessee when floodwaters forced patients and staff to be airlifted from the roof. Mitchell said she felt like hospital leaders waited too long before evacuating and feared she would drown.

The last 48 hours have produced many stories of everyday people becoming heroes, saving the lives of those around them.

Few are as daring as that of Eddie Hunnell, who dived straight into a fast-moving river in North Carolina swollen by floodwaters to rescue a woman who had been swept away in her own home.

Video obtained by NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh shows people by the riverbank shouting “Jump!” as an entire house floats by.

Jay Carter, the CEO of Halo Relief, a volunteer disaster relief organization, is on the ground with teams in North Carolina and described the challenges in reaching hard-hit communities.

"The water is obviously an issue here. It still hasn’t completely subsided. You have mud, rocks, and with all of that you have all the debris from the towns and the destruction — all this mixed together just makes it pretty complicated," Carter told NBC News Now this morning.

"We have some pretty big trucks here that can get through some of the mud, some of the water, but when you mix that with rocks and debris, it makes it really difficult to get to these areas. The hands on from the guys, the teams here with us, going out and pulling this debris out. It’s a long process, honestly, just to get a few miles down the road," he added.

He said the biggest needs of the organization and state are food and water, as well as generators as many towns are still without power.

Firefighters in the stricken city of Asheville, North Carolina, have asked that residents understand the sheer size of the task facing them, as crew works to remove debris and begin the recovery.

The Asheville Fire Department shared the picture seen below on X this morning, adding: "The picture shows the access road to Bee Tree. Let's show some appreciation to our active crews as they work to fix our city."

Only 6% of U.S. homeowners have flood insurance but even an inch of water in your home can cause up to $25,000 worth of damage. With storms like Hurricane Helene getting stronger, experts say many people nationwide do not have the coverage they need. NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reports for "TODAY."