Hurricane Helene has hit the southeastern US

30.09.2024

Since Thursday Hurricane Helene has gradually hit ten American states and caused massive power outages. The hurricane has already killed more than eight dozen residents including two firefighters and caused tens of billions of dollars worth of damage.

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Hurricane Helene was classified as a Category 4 hurricane upon entering Florida. Strong winds of up to 225 kilometers per hour destroyed thousands of homes and left many residents temporarily homeless. Emergency services are continuously working in the most affected areas. Hurricane Helene caused outages at several million utility points across ten states. As recently as Sunday, 2.6 million customers were without electricity.

According to rough estimates by insurance companies, damages will range from fifteen to one hundred billion dollars. Meteorologists' forecasts for this week are optimistic, so electricity supplies should be restored soon.

As Hurricane Helene made its way through Florida, it headed north and gradually lost strength. The hurricane uprooted trees, downed power lines and caused extensive damage to infrastructure along the way. Many of the houses were damaged by mudslides.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said over the weekend that it had issued emergency declarations in six states. These are Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South and North Carolina. On the territory of these states, rescue and search teams provided assistance to at least six hundred residents. FEMA deployed over three thousand employees here.

The National Hurricane Center expects remnants of the storm to continue flooding the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians through Sunday. Cleanups are already underway on the East Coast and Midwest that will last several weeks. Late last week, President Joe Biden said he would soon visit areas affected by Hurricane Helene.

Source:AlJazeera/Editorial