Hurricane Helene updates: Death toll surpasses 230 as rescue efforts continue

Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance toured the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in Damascus, Virginia, with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday.

"I think the biggest thing that I take away from this is: One, people need a lot of resources to rebuild, to rebuild the water system, to rebuild the roads, to put power back on, to restock people's refrigerators," Vance said. "But most importantly, I heard an unbelievable number of stories of incredible human tragedy, but also human heroism that saved a lot of lives and made it so that this very, very significant tragedy wasn't a whole lot worse."

When reporters asked Vance if he supported the call for Congress to go back into session and pass an emergency appropriations package to help those impacted by Helene, Vance said yes.

"Yes, ma'am, of course, we're going to support that," he said. "People, I think, need the help and certainly need the support."

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Over 40,000 people in North Carolina have applied for disaster assistance, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid out more than $6.2 million to survivors in the state, according to the White House.

Senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said President Joe Biden has asked FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to stay in North Carolina "until the situation has stabilized."

"With her are over 1,200 FEMA and other federal personnel, with more resources and staff arriving daily," he said in a post on X. "Search and rescue teams have rescued or supported 2,120 people. Roughly 7,900 crews from across the country and Canada are working on power restoration. The NC National Guard has delivered more than 100,000 lbs of food and over 38,000 lbs of water to Asheville."

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

At least 72 people have died in hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, which encompasses Asheville, Sheriff Quentin Miller said Thursday.

Over 200 others are missing, the sheriff said.

To the residents of Buncombe County, the sheriff said, "You are the heart of everything we do. We know these are hard times. But please know we're coming to get you."

Hurricane Helene has caused "complete devastation" to North Carolina's roads, bridges and water systems, Gov. Roy Cooper said on Thursday.

"Our focus right now is on restoring primary arteries for supplies, medical aid and utility crews," Cooper said, noting that billions of dollars will be required to fully rebuild the region’s infrastructure.

"We need to rebuild in a more resilient way, understanding that this kind of destruction is now a real possibility,” he said.

Over 1,000 National Guard troops and 32 aircraft are delivering supplies daily, Cooper said, and the government has "surged hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and water" to impacted communities.

Search and rescue are still ongoing, Cooper added.

The governor stressed that recovery will be a long-term process.

"We know people will need assistance for a while, especially with power and water systems down," he said.

-ABC News’ Jason Volack