Several U.S. Southeastern states were hit with unprecedented rains and flooding when category 4 Hurricane Helene touched ground along the Florida Gulf Coast. The Biden Administration has declared Major Disaster declarations for Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina (FEMA). Residents of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Tennessee have experienced catastrophic loss of life and property as severe weather washed away roads and entire homes, submerged businesses, and damaged critical infrastructure leaving millions without power, cellular service and isolated (USA Today). Water rescues have been conducted across all affected states, including an eastern Tennessee hospital that required a rooftop evacuation of patients and staff (CBS News). The list of missing persons in North Carolina hovers at 600 and fatalities have surpassed 100, with losses expected to rise as emergency workers make their way through debris and devastation to reach communities in need (AP News).
Date of event: September 24-29, 2024
Impact:
- More than 100 storm-related fatalities (AP News)
- At height of outages, more than 4 million customers without power (AccuWeather)
- More than 3,500 federal workers deployed for disaster response (FEMA)
- Estimated damage and economic loss between $145-160 billion (AccuWeather)
Related Resources:
- How the Federal Government Should Build Local Governments’ Capacity for Addressing Disasters
- Mitigation Assessment Team Report: Hurricane Ida in Florida: Building Performance Observations, Recommendations, and Technical Guidance, December 2023
- Increased U.S. Coastal Hurricane Risk Under Climate Change
- What Predicts Hurricane Evacuation Decisions? The Importance of Efficacy Beliefs, Risk Perceptions, and Other Factors
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