Tag Archives: Hurricane Helene

The New York Times reports: Over the past 15 years, North Carolina lawmakers have rejected limits on construction on steep slopes, which might have reduced the number of homes lost to landslides; blocked a rule requiring homes to be elevated above the height of an expected flood; weakened protections for wetlands, increasing the risk of dangerous storm water runoff; and …

NBC News reports: 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. Relatives of the missing and deceased workers and factory employees who survived have alleged they were made …

Bloomberg News reports: The destruction from Hurricane Helene is expected to cost insurers roughly $6.4 billion, according to an early estimate from catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company. KCC’s assessment includes damage to privately insured automobiles as well as residential, commercial and industrial properties and the impact of business interruption. Insured losses are much lower than the total economic …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: The “Insurance Village” resource center is to open in Clearwater this weekend for residents to expedite the filing of insurance claims. The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Consumer Services will host around 42 insurance agencies to help residents who are in the process of filing a claim. The “Insurance Village” will be open from …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Kamala Harris handed out meals, embraced a shaken family and surveyed Hurricane Helene’s “extraordinary” path of destruction through Georgia on Wednesday as she left the campaign trail to pledge federal help and personally take in scenes of toppled trees, damaged homes and lives upended. She visited Augusta, where power lines stretched along the sidewalk …

Courthouse News reports: As the southeastern U.S. reels from the devastating hurricane that ravaged the region last week, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle urged congressional leaders to convene a special session to approve critical disaster relief aid. “Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act to meet the unmet needs …

Via press release from the White House: President Biden and Vice President Harris continue to mobilize an intensive Federal response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene. The Administration is prioritizing life-saving and life-sustaining response efforts in impacted communities, as well as ensuring people displaced from the storm have prompt access to Federal resources that will enable them to both purchase …

In a moving New York Times video, Asheville-area gay bar owner Brandon Davis laments the destruction of his just-opened business, saying, “I had a dream come true and it lasted 32 days.” A GoFundMe drive has been launched by a friend on behalf of Davis and his partner: Part of what makes this community so vibrant and wonderful are the …

The Associated Press reports: More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it — an unheard of amount of water that has stunned experts. That’s enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium 51,000 times, or Lake Tahoe just once. If …

The Associated Press reports: As the rain from Hurricane Helene came down harder and harder, workers inside a plastics factory in rural Tennessee kept working. It wasn’t until water flooded into the parking lot and the power went out that the plant shut down and sent workers home. Several never made it. The raging floodwaters swept 11 people away, and …

The New York Times reports: A preliminary check of election offices in North Carolina’s flooded west showed that offices in 14 counties were closed, with officials unsure when they would open, the State Board of Elections said late Monday. One office in Haywood County, just west of hard-hit Asheville, could not be reached. While the region is largely rural, it …

Florida Politics reports: Following the devastating Hurricane Helene that unleashed winds and water, the state issued an emergency order to protect property owners from losing their insurance. The emergency order from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation comes as Florida’s insurance industry was already in crisis before the Category 4 Hurricane Helene arrived. Under the emergency order, insurance companies are …

Tampa’s ABC affiliate reports: As residents across the Tampa Bay area return to their homes for the first time since Hurricane Helene passed through the area, local officials are asking those who own electric vehicles to stay vigilant when assessing damage. On Saturday, Pinellas County Government posted a video of a flooded Tesla that caught fire inside a homeowner’s garage. …

Washington DC’s Fox affiliate reports: President Joe Biden is expected to address the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene at 10:30 a.m. today in the White House Roosevelt Room. The Category 4 hurricane hit Florida’s Big Bend area Thursday night before traveling across the southeast, impacting parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Helene hit hardest in western North …

NBC News reports: Searches are ongoing this morning for hundreds of missing people across southeastern states this morning, with at least 95 confirmed fatalities across six states, according to a list maintained by NBC News. At least 30 people have died in a single county in Asheville, North Carolina, the site of disastrous flooding, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said …

The New York Times reports: Hurricane Helene ravaged much of the Southeast last week, carving a path of destruction from Florida to Appalachian states as it spawned deadly flooding, mudslides and tornadoes. After making landfall on Thursday on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the storm, with its powerful winds and record-breaking storm surges, killed at least 60 people, destroyed countless homes, put …

ABC News reports: Residents of Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa, are facing “a level of devastation in our county that, quite honestly, I haven’t seen in the 20-plus years that I’ve lived here,” county administrator Mike Carballa said. Pasco County’s emergency center received about 400 to 500 calls for service early Friday morning after landfall, Carballa said. Of …

The New York Times reports: Cedar Key, a small community on a collection of tiny islands jutting into the Gulf of Mexico, is emerging as one of the areas most devastated when Helene struck Florida’s Big Bend region on Thursday night. “Cedar Key as we know it is completely gone,” said Michael Bobbitt, a novelist and playwright who lives in …

Nashville’s ABC affiliate reports: More than 50 people were sent to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital on Friday and are awaiting rescue as flooding cut the hospital off from land, according to Ballad Health. Ballad previously announced at 10:45 a.m. that the hospital had closed and suspended operations due to the threat of flooding. Ballad stated in a …

Tampa’s Fox affiliate reports: Flooding caused by record-breaking storm surge from Hurricane Helene has prompted hundreds of water rescues in coastal portions of the Tampa Bay area. Helene brought significant impacts to the region before making landfall late Thursday night as a Category 4 storm, bringing catastrophic storm surge and life-threatening winds to Florida’s Big Bend area. Maximum sustained winds …