Hurricane Helene: More than 60 dead as rescue efforts continue

As Hurricane Helene continues to pass through the south and east of the country, the death toll increased to 63 people as of Saturday, as search and rescue efforts continue.

The hardest-hit state was South Carolina, where 24 deaths were recorded, according to local authorities and the AFP news agency. It was followed by Georgia with 17, Florida with 11, North Carolina with 10, and Virginia with one. A state of emergency has been declared in all of those states, plus Alabama and Tennessee.

More than 2.5 million customers were without power early Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.com. South Carolina had the worst figures with more than 940,000 customers without power.

After making landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, Helene downgraded to a post-tropical on Friday. Officials expect rainfall to continue through this weekend in southern Appalachia.

Historic flooding

Record flooding left the state of Tennessee on edge in recent hours. One of the flashpoints was the Nolichucky Dam, where rising waters overwhelmed the dam. However, local emergency officials reported Saturday that the worst has passed and people can now return to their homes downstream.

The city of Asheville, in the west, was one of the hardest hit. It was even cut off according to some reports due to damaged roads and telephone lines. The people who live in the city, the largest in the region, and those living in the surrounding areas were sent supplies by air, while the authorities reminded the public that the roads are closed: "We cannot say this enough: do not travel in or to Wester, North Carolina.”

"This is one of the worst storms in modern history for parts of North Carolina," Gov. Roy Cooper said at a press conference on Friday.

Florida is trying to go back to normal

Roads, homes and businesses were under water after Helene made landfall near Tallahassee, Florida's state capital.

Perry, a town near the area where Helene made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, experienced winds of up to 140 mph. Many homes were left without power and the gas station was completely washed away.

Gov. Ron DeSantis toured the wreckage in the area Saturday, emphasizing that the damage on the Floridian coast had been worse than hurricanes Idalia and Debby. "Theres going to be a lot of work to do in this areas over the nex days, weeks months," the Republican said. He claimed that sometimes repairs take years to complete.

Augusta, Ga., faces ‘catastrophic and historic’ damage

The iconic Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters, was in the path of Helene during its course through Georgia. "Our Augusta community has suffered catastrophic and historic impact from Hurricane Helene," said club President Fred Ridley, adding that they were still assessing the aftermath of the hurricane.

Images on social media show a very different picture from the pristine course where the first major of the year is played:

Ridley explained that, for the moment, their "focus and efforts" were centered on the staff, neighbors and business owners of Augusta, a city where the hurricane’s devastation was apparent.