Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (2024)

UPDATE: Find our latest reporting on Helene here

The remnants of Hurricane Helene dissipated Saturday, but massive rains brought by the storm have left many people stranded and without power as cleanup began from the monster tempest that killed scores of people and caused billions of dollars in destruction across a wide swath of the U.S. Southeast.

Deaths from the storm have occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Track the storm with the live map below.

A North Carolina County that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people have been killed due to the storm, pushing the overall death toll to at least 84 people across several states.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the toll in Buncombe County would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.

WATCH: Deadly floods submerge North Carolina roads and towns in the wake of Helene

Cooper implored residents in western North Carolina to avoid travel, both for their own safety and to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams spread throughout the region in search of stranded people.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (1)

Image provided by CIRA/NOAA

Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday and then quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

Ten of the 11 people who died in Florida as a result of Hurricane Helene lived in the Tampa Bay area, officials said Saturday. The other victim was killed when a tree fell on a house in Dixie County, in north Florida.

WATCH: Helene’s impact felt far and wide across several Southern states

Nine of the victims lived in mandatory evacuation zones in Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg is located, along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Each of those victims drowned in their homes, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. They ranged in age from 37 to 89.

The other victim died when a sign fell onto a car in Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood.

President Joe Biden said in a statement Saturday he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and devastation from Helene and that he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for the families. Biden was being regularly briefed by his team on the storm, and the leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was in the region assessing the damage, along with local officials.

“The road to recovery will be long, but know that my Administration will be with you every step of the way. We’re not going to walk away. We’re not going to give up,” he said.

South Carolina electric grid decimated by Helene

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is asking for patience as nearly a third of the state’s electric customers face a third night without power.

“We want people to remain calm. Help is on the way, It is just going to take time,” McMaster told reporters outside the airport in Aiken County. He planned to fly to hard hit Greenville County, where more than 80 percent of the 277,000 homes and businesses were still in the dark Sunday afternoon.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (2)

A large oak lies on a home after it fell due to Tropical Storm Helene in Anderson, South Carolina, Sept. 27, 2024. Photo by Ken Ruinard/The Anderson Independent Mail/USA TODAY Network via Reuters

The storm killed 25 people in South Carolina as it moved across the state overnight Friday, the highest death toll from a tropical system since Hurricane Hugo struck Charleston directly in 1989.

In all, more than 850,000 people – or 30 percent of the state’s electric customers – remained without power Sunday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.

Officials said it was taking so much time to repair and restore electricity because nearly the entire grid was destroyed. In Aiken County, 27 of 29 substations were damaged beyond repair, Aiken Electric Cooperative CEO Gary Stooksbury said.

FEMA responding to disaster declarations across six states

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal disaster agency is actively engaged across six states in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, meeting the requests of governors and state-level responders.

The needs vary across the six states with active disaster declarations, Criswell said, and she confirmed that conditions in the Appalachian regions across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia presented particular concern.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (3)

Meta Gatschenberger surveys the remains of her collapsed and destroyed house shortly after she and her husband arrived back in the area in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, in Boone, North Carolina, Sept. 28, 2024. Photo by Jonathan Drake/Reuters

Criswell toured south Georgia on Sunday and planned to be in North Carolina on Monday.

“It’s still very much an active search and rescue mission” in western North Carolina, Criswell said. “And we know that there’s many communities that are cut off just because of the geography.”

Road and bridge outages continued to keep certain communities isolated and severe damage to communications systems has made it difficult for residents to make emergency calls or contact anyone.

Supplies being air dropped as 300 roads closed in North Carolina

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the state is working as hard as it can to get food and water to hundreds of thousands of people trapped and isolated by Hurricane Helene in the mountains as rescue efforts continue.

Nearly 300 roads remained closed, including Interstate 40 both west and east of Asheville, Cooper said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (4)

Heavy machinery clears a road as the Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure, carrying debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains caused by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024, in Lake Lure, North Carolina. Approximately six feet of debris piled on the bridge from Lake Lure to Chimney Rock, blocking access. Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

At least 45 out-of-state search-and-rescue teams joined 500 National Guard troops from the state in conducting rescues and air dropping food and water to areas that can’t be reached by road, officials said.

“We’re seeing progress, but we know the need is great,” Cooper said.

Rescuers save 41 people in one mission near Asheville

Well over 50 search teams have fanned out across the North Carolina mountains to help rescue people in danger after Hurricane Helene.

The efforts saved 41 people in one mission north of Asheville as well as rescuing an infant. The teams were finding people through both 911 calls and messages on social media, North Carolina Adjutant General Todd Hunt said.

“These swift water rescues are going on now, as we speak,” Gov. Roy Coper said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (5)

Mary Grace and her dog, Marley, walk around the Biltmore Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, Sept. 29, 2024. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Asheville left isolated by damaged roads and lack of utilities

Floodwatersleft North Carolina’s largest mountain city isolated Saturday by damaged roads and a lack of power and cellphone service.

“Oh, we are hanging in there and trying to get over the shock of what’s happened in Asheville. But doing all right, just recovering,” said Laura Reiley, an employee at the Moxy Hotel in Asheville.

The storm blew out a hotel window, knocked down awnings and spread tree debris everywhere, she said.

Reiley says there is now a crowd of people outside the hotel using their free Wi-Fi to reach family and friends.

“We have what I call campers hanging out around the front of the hotel because they’re able to use our Wi-Fi, which is great because they can get in touch with family and friends and so we don’t have a problem with that,” she said.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (6)

The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and overflows the town with debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene in Lake Lure, North Carolina, Sept. 28, 2024. Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

Water shutoff in Augusta, Georgia, and surrounding areas

In Augusta, in eastern Georgia near the border with South Carolina, officials notified residents Sunday morning that water service would be shut off for 24 to 48 hours in the city and surrounding Richmond County.

A news release said trash and debris from the storm “blocked our ability to pump water.” Officials were distributing bottled water at the municipal building and said each household would receive one case.

Communications are largely cut off in the North Carolina mountains

With power lines gone, roads impassable and cellphone towers destroyed, it’s nearly impossible to communicate in the North Carolina mountains.

While the population center of Asheville was able to get video briefings out to the world, many counties were just able to get messages out to Facebook and other social media late Saturday.

They included posts to stay strong, to stay in place and to conserve water. But some areas have been out of touch since the storm reached its peak.

“We are going to touch every house it’s just going to take a while,” said a Facebook post by Mitchell County 911. It serves a population of around 15,000 and is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Asheville.

Instead of publishing a list of closed roads, next door Avery County just listed the eight roads in the county that are open.

A few counties that regularly post information have listed nothing since passing along flash flood emergency warnings during the worst of the storm. Other posts are from out-of-area relatives asking emergency officials to check on loved ones.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (7)

Flash flood risk forecast on Sept. 28, 2024. Graphic by NWS/NCEP Weather Prediction Center (WPC)

In Cherokee County in the far western part of North Carolina, the sheriff’s office posted pictures of a temporary cell tower being installed in its parking lot Saturday night.

“We will announce when it is operational, so please wait until after that time to crowd around,” deputies wrote.

Threat of a potential dam collapse in Tennessee eases

The threat of a potential dam collapse in eastern Tennessee, near the North Carolina border, was easing on Saturday morning.

Around midnight the Tennessee Valley Authority had issued an emergency warning that the Nolichucky Dam could breach at any time. An update later on Saturday said the Nolichucky River had crested at 8 feet (2.4 meters) over previous record elevations and was receding at about 1 foot (0.3 meters) per hour.

“Our Dam Safety teams are in the process of assessing the condition of the dam to determine next steps,” TVA posted on X.

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (8)

A view of a flooded area in Newport, Tennessee, Sept. 27, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Image provided by Curtis Hance/H&H Vapors/via Reuters

Live Map: Track the path of Hurricane Helene (2024)
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