Authorities in North Carolina on Thursday confirmed at least 91 storm-related fatalities from Hurricane Helene but still could not account for the number of those who remain missing or unaccounted for.
Fatalities were reported across 20 counties, according to a Thursday afternoon update from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS).
The vast majority of those fatalities were reported in Buncombe, with 42 deaths, followed by Yancey and Henderson, at 10 and 7, respectively.
Debris from homes flooded in Hurricane Helene is piled curbside as Hurricane Milton approaches on Tuesday, Oct. 8, in Port Richey, Fla. (AP/Mike Carlson)
NCDHSS told Fox News Digital that these fatalities were confirmed by the North Carolina Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).
NCDHSS said there are no missing persons numbers at this time because there are different sources of where missing persons and welfare check requests were reported during the storm.
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The North Carolina Department of Public Safety told Fox News Digital that efforts are underway to accumulate those numbers.
Workers, community members, and business owners clean up debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Marshall, North Carolina on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Justin J. Graney, Chief of External Affairs and Communications for North Carolina Emergency Management, told Fox News Digital there are “wide area searches taking place since [Hurricane Helen] took place.”
“This includes grid searches, vehicle searches, damaged structure searches, and searches around areas where debris have collected. Hundreds of responders have conducted said searches,” Graney said.
Graney explained that local entities take information reported to local 911, the NC 211 call center, social media reporters, shelter occupancy information, and any information reported to an EOC, “to attempt to locate anyone that someone has reported missing or that they have asked to have a welfare check conducted.”
“Many of these types of situations were thankfully resolved when communications systems were brought back online and family and friends were able to connect once again,” Graney said.
Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina late last month, bringing catastrophic flooding from the storm’s historic rainfall in the North Carolina mountains.
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Tens of thousands of electricity customers in the region remain without power and some people – including residents of Asheville, still lack running water.
FILE: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, and Deanne Criswell, Administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, await the arrival of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris for a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Oct. 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
On Thursday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed the state’s first relief package to address Helene’s devastation, allocating $273 million for immediate needs and giving flexibility to agencies and displaced residents.
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Nearly all the money will serve as the state’s share that is needed to meet the federal government’s match for state and local disaster assistance programs. Other money will be used in part to ensure public-school nutrition employees at closed schools get paid and to help officials administer elections in the coming weeks in the battleground state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
