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Helene aftermath: Roads heavily damaged by storm
Helene damaged roads and interstates across several states, including North Carolina. Jen Goodwin with the North Carolina Department of Transportation joined LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow to discuss the situation in the state.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - President Joe Biden is set to travel to North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday, days after Hurricane Helene carved a deadly and destructive path through the Southeast.
The president is expected to be given a briefing and an aerial survey of storm-ravaged Asheville. At least 57 people died in and around the city, a tourist haven known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.
Join the effort: How you can help Hurricane Helene's devastated communities
Biden will also travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday, where he is set to visit the emergency operations center.
He estimated the recovery could cost billions.
"We have to jump start this recovery process," Biden said Tuesday. "People are scared to death. This is urgent."
FILE - US President Joe Biden during an interagency briefing on Hurricane Helene response efforts in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Oct. 1, 2024. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Many remain missing in wake of Helene as death toll rises
Widespread devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene came to light Monday across the South, revealing a wasteland of splintered houses, crushed cargo containers and mud-covered highways in one of the worst storms in U.S. history. The death toll topped 130. LiveNOW from FOX host Josh Breslow spoke to Lillian Govus with Buncombe County, NC (Asheville) on impacts in her area.
On Wednesday, exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded by the storm, which has killed at least 159 people in six states, including many who were hit by falling trees or trapped in flooded cars and homes.
Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, while dozens of others were in South Carolina and Georgia.
"Communities were wiped off the map," North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, said at a news conference Tuesday.
In Swannanoa, a small community outside Asheville, receding floodwaters revealed cars stacked on top of others and trailer homes that had floated away during the storm. Roads were caked with mud and debris and pockmarked by sinkholes.
Helene blew ashore in Florida late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and upended life throughout the Southeast, where deaths were also reported in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.