Communities across the Southeast were still assessing the damage and loss on Wednesday, days after Hurricane Helene released its fury from Florida through Georgia, North and South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and into southern Virginia. The death toll has already climbed to 180 amid search, rescue, and recovery operations, making Helene among the deadliest hurricanes in the United States in the last 50 years.
“This is the worst flood of our lifetimes. It’s truly decimated our region. We are out of water and power and there is no cell or internet. (I’m on the courthouse steps using their Wi-Fi.) Roads in and out of Asheville are closed or washed away, and communication is minimal. Please send prayers. We will need your help to rebuild,” chef William Dissen of Asheville restaurant the Market Place said in an Instagram video depicting the historic flooding.
Last Thursday, as the hurricane prepared to make landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast, I hunkered down with my two kids and nieces at my sister’s house in South Tampa. (My own neighborhood nearby had been declared a mandatory evacuation area.) We played Monopoly, cooked, and even took a dip in the pool before the winds picked up and forced us inside. Even with very little rain, the storm surge from Helene pushed the waters of Tampa Bay ashore all around us onto the peninsula where we live.
No one knew what was to come from Helene in the areas where it pushed north from Florida overland that night and into the next day—carving a path of destruction through several states and completely devastating Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountain area in western North Carolina, which by all accounts appears to be one of the hardest hit regions.
It’s still too early to get the full picture of the long-term impacts on lives and livelihoods from the storm’s punishing blow. But as more information emerges each day, here’s what to know about the affected areas in Helene’s unrelenting path.
What areas and cities were hardest hit by Hurricane Helene?
Hurricane Helene traveled north through the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Gulf Coast before making landfall near Perry, Florida, on the evening of Thursday, September 26, as a Category 4 hurricane. Winds were clocked at 140 mph at one point, making it one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the state’s Big Bend region (the western part of Florida that curves from the peninsula into the panhandle on the Gulf Coast).
It brought a major storm surge to much of the state’s Gulf coastline, including to St. Petersburg, Clearwater Beach, and Old Port Tampa, which were among the places that saw their worst surge ever recorded during the storm, according to the Washington Post.
After landfall, the storm churned inland and into Georgia on a track east of Atlanta as a Category 2 hurricane. It had weakened to a tropical storm before moving toward South Carolina and across western North Carolina and Tennessee, dumping unprecedented amounts of rain, threatening dam failures, and flooding rivers along the way.
Here’s how states were affected:
Florida: As the storm made its way north to landfall in Taylor County along Florida’s Big Bend, it brought along with it a record storm surge and high winds across Gulf Coast communities, according to the Associated Press, including in some of the state’s most populated areas.
In Tampa and St. Pete, there was widespread flooding, damage to property, and loss of life reported. Many beaches washed into the surrounding streets. Further south, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island, still reeling from Hurricane Ian, also experienced surge effects according to the Fort Myers News-Press. Some 8.5 million gallons of sewage were discharged during the storm across Tampa Bay as sewage systems were overwhelmed by the surge, the Tampa Bay Times reported. In Pinellas County, popular barrier island beaches in hard-hit places like St. Pete Beach, Treasure Beach, and Clearwater Beach were set to reopen to the public on Tuesday afternoon, but damage to more than 23,000 residential properties across the county has been recorded.
Damage is widespread further north in the state, too, in smaller tourist towns like Cedar Key, which was cut off for two days from power and water after the storm, Tarpon Springs, and Steinhatchee (about 90 miles southeast of Tallahassee, where damages were minimal, according to the Tallahassee Democrat). Overall, 11 deaths have been reported in Florida from the storm, according to CNN.
Georgia: Georgia has so far reported 25 deaths related to Hurricane Helene, with the bulk of the storm’s historic damage from wind and rain occurring in southern Georgia and the state’s mountainous northeast region, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Valdosta, Augusta, and Rabun counties all reported heavy damage while Atlanta was largely spared.
South Carolina: South Carolina saw large amounts of rain as well as dozens of deaths from fallen trees and power lines, and more than half a million homes in the state still remain without power as of Tuesday morning according to a USA Today power outage tracker.
Flood waters, and downed trees, power lines, and signs in eastern Asheville along Highway 70.
Photo by Stephan Pruitt/Fiasco Media
North Carolina: The mountains of North Carolina, particularly in the state’s western regions and in and around Asheville, were inundated with rain and water from overflowing rivers, devastating many towns and taking a still untold number of lives as recovery efforts continue. At least 56 people have been reported dead in the state due to the storm and hundreds remain missing.
Dozens of roads are closed and inaccessible due to fallen trees and scattered debris from damaged buildings, CNN reports. The Asheville Citizen Times reported 47 deaths in Buncombe County as of September 30. Cultural jewels like the River Arts District and Biltmore Village in Asheville were completely wrecked by flooding. Other counties impacted in the region include Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey. Thousands of people in the region remain without power, and rescue and relief efforts are ongoing in Asheville and across western North Carolina, where the full extent of the storm’s damage is still unknown.
“The river carried my neighbor’s house into the middle of a main road, knocked there by another neighbor’s house on its way down river,” said nature writer Leigh Ann Henion, author of Night Magic, speaking on Tuesday from where she lives in Boone, North Carolina. “Every time I look around, I notice something new out of place. A bicycle. A toilet. A wheelbarrow in a tree. It is too much to take in. We are trying to move forward, even though what has happened is impossible to process.”
Writer Travis Marshall, who lives in Bent Creek, North Carolina, about 20 minutes from downtown Asheville, said on Tuesday that he could see military helicopters flying overhead and is sticking close to home.
“I haven’t traveled beyond our closest grocery story because we’re trying to conserve fuel,” he said. “I haven’t seen the worst of it in person.
“It feels like we’re stuck. Our neighborhood has a backup water supply so we could switch over when we lost city water. Power returned after about 12 hours, thankfully, but most places in the city limits are still without,” Marshall said.
Tennessee: High waters from the Pigeon and French Broad rivers closed roads and led to evacuations and water rescues in eastern Tennessee. Floodwater also trapped employees of a plastics plant in eastern Tennessee and led to several deaths.
Virginia: Homes and roads were destroyed by flooding in southwest Virginia communities like Damascus and Marion, just north of the Tennessee border. Two people have been reported killed.
The relative calm before the storm: People walking in Tampa, Florida, at noon on Thursday, September 26, with Hurricane Helene just hours from making landfall.
Photo by Terry Ward
How have travel and transportation been affected?
Florida’s major airports quickly reopened after the storm passed, including Tampa International (KTPA), St. Pete–Clearwater International (KPIE), and Gainesville Regional (KGNV) airports, as well as Tallahassee International Airport (KTLH). Orlando International Airport (MCO) remained open and operational during the storm.
Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the busiest in the country, is also up and running.
Many Florida beaches along the Gulf Coast opened to the public this week after residents and business owners were first allowed to return to assess the damage. But many beachfront hotels remain closed, so travelers with reservations in the coming weeks and months should contact properties individually for the latest information on reopenings.
Commercial flights resumed at Asheville Regional Airport on Monday, September 30, according to the airport website, but airlines have not resumed full schedules yet. Passengers are urged not to come to the airport to check on their flights but to contact their airline instead for the most current information.
According to the latest updates from Explore Asheville:
- The Blue Ridge Parkway is currently closed
- The Biltmore Estate is temporarily closed until October 15
- Much of the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests are closed
- Numerous North Carolina state parks are closed
- All Asheville city parks, community centers, and public facilities are closed
- All Buncombe County parks are closed
If you have travel or a hotel booked in any of the cities or regions affected, you should call ahead to make sure that the property is still open and that transportation to and from the destination is available and safe.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation website, all roads in western North Carolina are considered closed and non-emergency travel is prohibited—a situation the state’s governor left in no uncertain terms.
“Consider the roads closed in western North Carolina,” Governor Roy Cooper, told CNN Monday. “We do not need sightseers coming in to observe the damage. We ask you not to come in unless you are on a specific mission to help with rescue.”
As of Monday, many roads remained closed in eastern Tennessee, including portions of I-40 and I-26.
How has communication been affected? Is there cell service?
Cell service and communication were impacted across regions in Helene’s path and not all are up and running per normal yet. As of Monday, according to the New York Times, Asheville and many of the surrounding towns still have no power; cell service, while slowly being restored, remains scarce in some areas of North Carolina.
As of September 30, AT&T reported that 60 percent of affected cell sites in the hurricane’s impact region had been restored.
Verizon is waiving domestic call, text, and data usage for postpaid consumers impacted by the storm in parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina from September 28 to October 5, 2024.
How long will the recovery take?
Florida’s Gulf beaches and urban areas surrounding Tampa Bay in Pinellas and Hillsborough County experienced major storm surge. Beaches washed tons of sand onto properties, roads, and businesses as water raced ashore from the Gulf of Mexico in such popular tourist towns as Anna Maria Island, St. Pete Beach, Clearwater Beach, and Longboat Key in what’s being called the area’s worst storm in a century. Damage is severe but cleanup efforts are underway. As of the afternoon of September 30, according to an update from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s office, approximately 79,965 Floridians still remain without power.
“While beaches and barrier islands are open, some parts are in the process of restoring power while others on the southern end of our beaches are working to restore potable water,” a Visit St. Pete-Clearwater spokesperson told Afar. “Though no specific timeline can be given, the road to recovery has begun as our local leaders, residents, and business owners work together to provide the same amazing experiences along our shores, on the Gulf waters, and in our beachfront hotels. Our residents and visitors can still enjoy many of the amazing art and cultural experiences, attractions, wonderful restaurants, and nature excursions around Pinellas County.”
Mainland communities to the south in the Bradenton Area were relatively untouched, but barrier islands and the Cortez Village suffered damage from Hurricane Helene, said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“Mainland businesses, hotels, nature preserves, attractions, and restaurants are open for families to experience and enjoy. Our hospitality industry is resilient and has already started the recovery process, thanks to statewide partners like the Florida Department of Transportation and our local governments,” said Falcione.
Local officials in Asheville and surrounding areas in western North Carolina are still busy with relief efforts and assessing impacts, and it could be months before some routes in western North Carolina are open again due to compromised bridges, roadway collapses, and landslides.
While many eastern communities in Tennessee were devastated, much of Tennessee is open for business, including the cities of Chattanooga, Gatlinburg, Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville.
Hurricane Helene has deeply affected many communities in western North Carolina, but Jackson County was fortunate to have avoided a direct hit, said Nick Breedlove, executive director, Jackson County Tourism Development Authority.
The area did experience fallen trees, flooding, mudslides, and power outages, primarily in southern Jackson County, he said.
“Emergency response teams are working hard to restore power, telecommunications, and drinking water, while aiding recovery efforts in the areas that were more severely impacted,” he said.
How can travelers help?
Numerous organizations have jumped into action to help with Hurricane Helene relief. For travelers wishing to support recovery efforts, these are some of the groups currently working on the ground and helping the people and communities in areas affected by the storm.
North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund
All donated funds go to disaster relief and nonprofits working to meet the immediate needs of storm victims in western North Carolina, including providing food and water, cleaning supplies, and other emergency items.
The Salvation Army of Asheville
For a close-to-home donation to support recovery in Asheville, this organization is actively responding to the impacts of Hurricane Helene in the area.
Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina
This non-profit based in Raleigh is working to help send out mobile refrigeration units and food delivery trucks to the effected areas along with emergency kits and ready-to-go meals for impacted families.
World Central Kitchen
José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen is already on the ground and providing meals to affected communities in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. You can donate directly through the website.
Metropolitan Ministries
Targeting impacted families and individuals across the Tampa Bay area, this organization is collecting donations for providing poststorm shelter, meals, water, and more for the many displaced people in the region.
Water Mission
Providing generators, safe water, and more, Water Mission is currently rushing
aid to the hardest hit areas of North Carolina.
