More than 1,000 inmates within the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction were evacuated “due to long timeframes for water and power restoration” in the wake of Helene. The evacuations started yesterday morning and concluded by evening. 

Officials said 841 men incarcerated at Avery-Mitchell Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine were evacuated to seven different prisons.

“All offenders in storm-impacted prisons are safe, and NCDAC is taking appropriate steps to ensure continued health and safety of all staff and offenders,” NCDAC said in a statement. 

On Monday, NCDAC had evacuated just over 400 female offenders from Western Correctional Center for Women in Swannanoa and Black Mountain Substance Abuse Treatment Center for Women to three different institutions. 

“The duration of all relocations will depend on the time required restore water and power,” the department said.

President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Virginia yesterday and ordered federal aid be sent to assist in recovery efforts. 

The announcement makes federal funding available to locals in Giles, Grayson, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington and Wythe counties, as well as the independent city of Galax. Assistance includes grants for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans for uninsured property losses. 

Federal funding is also available to state and local governments and nonprofits for emergency work.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the state’s criminal investigation agency, said Wednesday it is looking into allegations against an Erwin plastics factory where several workers died and some went missing after they were swept away by floodwaters from Hurricane Helene.

“At the request of 1st Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney, TBI agents are investigating allegations involving Impact Plastics,” Leslie Earhart, the bureau’s spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. The bureau deferred additional questions to the District Attorney General’s Office.

Finney in a statement said that he specifically asked “that they review the occurrences of Friday, September 27, 2024, to identify any potential criminal violations.”

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President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to take separate tours on Wednesday of the catastrophic damage resulting from Hurricane Helene, from which at least 150 people have died.

Biden is expected to visit North Carolina and South Carolina days after the storm swept through Florida and traveled north, causing damage as far north as Tennessee and Virginia.

Harris will visit Georgia, which former President Donald Trump toured Monday and where he criticized Harris and the Biden administration for their response to the hurricane.

Biden is first scheduled to land in Greenville, South Carolina, where he will participate in an aerial tour of storm damage. After that, he will head to Raleigh, North Carolina, to be briefed at the emergency operations center and then take an aerial tour of Asheville, one of the areas hit hardest by flooding.

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John Norwood and his fiancée, Julie Le Roux, were swept into fast-moving floodwaters last week when a mudslide destroyed the Marion, North Carolina, home they were sheltering in during Helene.

Video captured the moment Norwood was rescued, carried over the floods by a pulley and brought to safety. Norwood is now recovering in the hospital, but his fiancée is still missing. 

The family is hopeful that Le Roux will be found. She's one of hundreds missing after Helene tore through the Southeast, leaving devastating flooding and power outages in its wake.

An online fundraiser for Norwood has already surpassed $45,000. His uncle, Robert Martin, told NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh, he's "blown away" by the public's generosity.

“Absolutely, absolutely blown away. I just I don’t even know where it’s all coming from. I’m having trouble comprehending it. It is so generous,” he said.

Critical food and supplies are reaching residents in Black Mountain, North Carolina, by a special delivery method: mules. 

The Mountain Mule Packer Ranch, which specializes in terrain pack animal supply trains, sent loads of food and supplies yesterday by mules, which are able to traverse the difficult terrain. Photos posted by the group showed the mules, saddled with cargo, walking on wrecked roads that would be impassable by car. 

“All went smoothly, and the mules and packers are resting for the night! Their plan for tomorrow, is to bring supplies, food, and check on residents’ needs in an area towards Swannanoa, where it is believed 30% of the town’s residents are trapped and can’t get out,” the Mountain Mule Packer Ranch wrote on Facebook. 

The group was supported by donations from volunteers, Tractor Supply and Food Lion in Cleveland. 

“It was so moving and beautiful to see people lined up bringing bag after bag, box after box, and case after case for the cause. We all had tears in our eyes and lumps in our throats as we joined together for a common cause,” the group wrote on Facebook. 

U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road will reopen by 8 a.m. today “to allow for access between Tennessee and North Carolina communities,” the National Park Service said this morning. 

The route had been closed following Helene due to limited park staffing and limited resources such as fuel.

With the road reopening, the communities of Sevier County, Tennessee, and Cherokee County, North Carolina “are fully open to those who can access them through safe routes.” It comes as many roads were damaged or became impassable in the wake of Helene.

Once it opens, all major roads, trails and facilities on the Tennessee-side of the park will be open to visitors. 

States in the Southeast are continuing to recover from Helene, with searches for survivors still underway, over 1 million still without power, and struggles with food, water and cell service.

In Asheville, North Carolina, many are still in dire condition. “I don’t have power, water, food,” one woman told NBC News.

With so many in need of help, locals have turned to volunteers to help out. Halo Relief, a volunteer disaster relief organization, is in the state clearing roads and reaching stranded locals.

“We have to clear roads to get to them and then try to figure out how to transport them to somewhere safe and get that medical care that they need,” Halo Relief founder Jay Carter said. “It’s the worst day of their life.”

In Asheville, some restaurants like Chai Pani that have power are paying it forward by making food for World Central Kitchen to share to those in need. At Chai Pani, most of the people working to prepare food for the community are volunteers, most of whom don't have power themselves. 

“This is what it means to us to be part of a community,” said Molly Irani, co-owner of Chai Pani. “In the middle of darkness, you just have to look to the helpers and the light and that’s how we get through it.”

Hurricane Helene and its devastation were highlighted during the debate between vice presidential candidates Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance last night.

Vance called the hurricane “an unbelievable, unspeakable human tragedy.”

“I’m sure Governor Walz joins me in saying our hearts go out to those innocent people, our prayers go out to them. And we want as robust and aggressive as a federal response as we can get to save as many lives as possible. And then, of course, afterwards, to help the people in those communities rebuild,” Vance said.

Walz said: “It is a horrific tragedy with this hurricane, and my heart goes out to the folks that are down there.”