What to know
- At least 223 people have died and hundreds are unaccounted for in the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene since it made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26.
- More than a week later, some residents and communities remain isolated, hundreds of thousands are without power, and spotty service has made communication difficult.
- As people dig out of the muck and survey the damage to their homes and cities, stories of heroic rescues and devastating losses are coming to light.
- If you would like to help donate to survivors of Helene, several organizations, including the Red Cross and National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, are seeking assistance from the public.
- NBC News Lite, a lightweight version of NBCNews.com available in emergency situations when internet connectivity may be limited, has been turned on for readers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama.
Asheville police working on 75 missing person cases
Asheville’s Deputy Police Chief Sean Aardema said the city has processed approximately 300 total missing person reports and that 270 of those people are "alive and well."
Those found have been put in contact with family, friends or whoever reported them missing, Aardema said.
Now, police are "working actively" on 75 missing person cases, with assistance from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, Aardema said.
At an afternoon news conference, officials in Buncombe County also said they are not yet naming the deceased.
The city is working to restore the water system, said Ben Woody, assistant city manager.
He said the North Fork water treatment plant "was built to be able to withstand ... a typical hurricane event" and that once it is fixed, "it can provide water to 80% of the Asheville water system."
"This is a priority repair for us at this time," Woody said.
Helene washed away "almost 25 feet of earth" that was covering the pipe, Woody said, adding that there was "catastrophic damage to this bypass waterline."
Woody did not provide a timeline on when the water system would be functional, but promised regular updates.
NOAA keeps the world's biggest climate archive in Asheville — it's offline with no timeline for restoration
The National Centers for Environmental Information’s data systems remain down and there’s no timeline for restoration, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The NCEI, which maintains an archive of climate data that dates to the 1700s, is based in Asheville. Its weather and climate archive is the largest in the world, according to the NOAA.
Right now, none of the archived data can be accessed, according to the NOAA. Paper and film records kept at NCEI are safe.
The disruption will delay several key reports that keep the public up to date on climate benchmarks, including monthly reports on the state of the U.S. climate and the NOAA’s global climate reports.
Hurricane Helene's rainfall extremes were boosted by human-caused climate change, early attribution studies show.
Dolly Parton, Walmart donate millions to Helene relief
Dolly Parton announced a $1 million donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit that has dedicated its resources to Helene victims, at an afternoon event at a Walmart in Newport, Tennessee.
Her businesses — including Dollywood Parks & Resorts, The Dollywood Foundation, Dolly Parton's Stampede and Pirates Voyage — are matching that with an additional $1 million donation to Mountain Ways.
At the same event, Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Furner said the company would donate $10 million to hurricane relief efforts across the affected states.
"These are special people here; they're my people," Parton said in a statement. "I feel like all people are my people, but everyone here grew up in the mountains just like I did so of course I have a close connection to them."
The country superstar said she "can't stand to see anyone hurting, so I wanted to do what I could to help after these terrible floods. I hope we can all be a little bit of light in the world for our friends, our neighbors — even strangers — during this dark time they are experiencing."
Dollywood has already been providing relief for victims in Tennessee — the company partnered with Coca-Cola to donate a semitruck full of water to Cocke County, Tennessee, and also donated 60,000 reusable masks, 30,000 disposable protective garments and 2.5 million disposable masks to be used in cleanup efforts, the release said. It also donated disposable paper ware and utensils for meals Mountain Ways is distributing.
Dollywood theme park will also be designated as a drop-off location for donations to help with the cleanup of East Tennessee.
FEMA says misinfo having 'negative impact on ability to help'
FEMA said that misinformation about its response to Hurricane Helene — some of which is being promoted by former President Donald Trump — is "having a negative impact on our ability to help people."
The agency today pushed back on claims that it only provides a single payment of $750 to disaster survivors through its Serious Needs Assistance program, saying that rumor is false.
"Serious Needs Assistance was designed to reach people as quickly as possible, so they can purchase essential items while we continue to process their disaster application and determine what other assistance they may be eligible for," FEMA Director of Public Affairs Jaclyn Rothenberg said in a statement.
Those in declared disaster areas can apply for assistance by calling 800-621-3362, visiting online at disasterassistance.gov or downloading the FEMA app.
Almost 700,000 people grappling with major power outages
Nearly 700,000 homes and businesses are dealing with power outages.
South Carolina has more than 260,000 customers in the dark, and North Carolina trails closely behind with over 215,000 customers without power.
In Georgia, more than 190,000 homes and businesses are experiencing outages. Virginia has just more than 10,000 customers in the dark.
GM halts production at two major U.S. plants
DETROIT — General Motors has temporarily halted vehicle production at two U.S. factories that assemble highly profitable large pickups and SUVs due to impacts to suppliers caused by Hurricane Helene.
The automaker canceled shifts yesterday and today at a plant in Flint, Michigan, that produces its heavy-duty trucks as well as at Arlington Assembly in Texas, which produces full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon.
A GM spokeswoman declined to speculate on when the plants were expected to restart production. A message yesterday to workers in Arlington viewed by CNBC said production at that plant was expected to resume Monday.
“We are working with these suppliers to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible for their employees and communities, as we seek to minimize impacts on our plants,” GM said in an emailed statement.
Helene cleanup efforts carry health risks around mud, toxic air and unclean water
Residents cleaning up the mud and debris left by Hurricane Helene face a number of health risks. In addition to the lack of clean water, toxic contamination and dangerous animals are also concerns.
Map: Helene’s deaths
North Carolina and South Carolina have counted the most Helene-related deaths as of Friday.
False claims about FEMA disaster funds and migrants pushed by Trump
False claims that federal emergency disaster money was given to migrants in the U.S. illegally have spread quickly in recent days, boosted by former President Donald Trump and some of his most high-profile supporters.
Trump repeated one of the more extreme baseless allegations during a rally Thursday in Saginaw, Michigan, saying that the money had been stolen.
“They stole the FEMA money, just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season,” Trump said.
Trump and his allies appear to be conflating two different funds. FEMA has dedicated disaster relief money that cannot be used for other purposes. Separately, it was tasked by Congress in 2022 with disseminating money from Customs and Border Protection to help communities that received influxes of migrants.
Relief begins to flow into communities cut off by Helene
As supplies begin to pour into a disaster relief center set up inside Bristol Motor Speedway, National Guard helicopters are flying nonstop missions to deliver them to Tennessee communities isolated by Hurricane Helene.