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Hurricane Helene live updates: Helene death toll reaches 200

Hurricane Helene's inland flooding has been catastrophic.

ByEmily Shapiro, David Brennan, Leah Sarnoff, Julia Reinstein, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: October 3, 2024, 12:08 PM EDT

The storm surge, wind damage and inland flooding from Hurricane Helene have been catastrophic, flooding neighborhoods, stranding residents and destroying homes in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

At least 200 people have been killed, according to The Associated Press. Helene, which made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region last week as a massive Category 4 hurricane, has become the deadliest mainland hurricane since Katrina in 2005.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
2 hours ago

At least 61 killed in Asheville area

At least 61 people have died in hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, which encompasses Asheville, county officials said.

There's no official count of missing persons "because search and rescue operations are still underway," Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said Thursday.

"We’re in day seven, and we’re still finding people in areas isolated by downed power lines and lack of phone service," she said.

Brit Oie, an artist originally from Norway, searches through damage at Riverside Studios in the aftermath of flooding of the French Broad River caused by Tropical Storm Helene in Asheville, NC, Oct. 2, 2024.
Erik S Lesser/epa-efe/shuttersto/ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shuttersto

"The recovery is going to take a long time, and FEMA will be here for the duration of the response and recovery," FEMA Regional Administrator Maryann Tierney said.

-ABC News' Jason Volack

3 hours ago

Georgia death toll climbs to 33

In Georgia, the death toll from Hurricane Helene has climbed to 33, Gov. Brian Kemp said Thursday.

Three of the fatalities were due to carbon monoxide poisoning from generators in the Savannah area, he said.

Two-thousand Georgia National Guard soldiers have been deployed across the state to help devastated residents recover from the historic storm, the governor said.

PHOTO: AUGUSTA, GA - OCTOBER 2: Traffic passes by a broken street lig
AUGUSTA, GA - OCTOBER 2: Traffic passes by a broken street light in Augusta, Ga., on Wednesday, October 2, 2024. (Photo by Sam Wolfe for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post via Getty Im

Over 200,000 Georgia customers remain without power. Eight-thousand utility poles need to be replaced, Kemp said.

All of the cleanup costs for the next three months will be paid by Georgia Emergency Management, he said.

-ABC News’ Mariama Jalloh

8:59 AM EDT

Hundreds of thousands still without power in the South

Hundreds of thousands of customers in the South are still without power nearly one week after Hurricane Helene made landfall.

Residents walk along Flat Creek Road, which was partially washed out and impassable from flood waters, Oct. 2, 2024, in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

More than 380,000 customers are in the dark in South Carolina and nearly 300,000 are without power in North Carolina.

Another 268,000 are without power in Georgia.

"This has been a historic storm. We've never seen anything like this," Duke Energy spokesperson Bill Norton said. “The biggest challenge has been the unprecedented flooding. It’s not just poles and wires that are down -- it's the backbone of our system, the transmission infrastructure and substations."

"We’re still targeting end of day Friday for the majority of our customers who are able to receive power," he added.

Oct 02, 2024, 10:51 PM EDT

Tennessee OSHA investigating reports people swept away during Helene

The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation following reports that flash flooding from Helene swept away employees from Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tennessee, which is located in Unicoi County.

TOSHA and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are working to determine what led to the "workplace fatalities" at the Erwin facility, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce said in a statement.

In their evening flash update, TEMA has confirmed that four people have died due to weather-related injuries, and six people remain missing in Unicoi County. Authorities have not confirmed how many fatalities and missing people are associated with Impact Plastics.

-ABC News' Victoria Arancio