Death toll from Hurricane Helene rises to 227 as grim task of recovering bodies continues

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The death toll from Hurricane Helene inched up to 227 on Saturday as the grim task of recovering bodies continued more than a week after the monster storm ravaged the Southeast and killed people in six US states. Helene came ashore on September 26 as a Category-4 hurricane and carved a wide swath of destruction as it moved northward from Florida, washing away homes, destroying roads and knocking out electricity and cellphone service for millions.

The number of deaths stood at 225 on Friday; two more were recorded in South Carolina the following day. It was still unclear how many people were unaccounted for or missing, and the toll could rise even higher. Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland US since Katrina in 2005. About half the victims were in North Carolina, while dozens more were killed in Georgia and South Carolina.

The city of Asheville, in the western mountains of North Carolina, was particularly battered. A week later, workers used brooms and heavy machinery to clean mud and dirt outside of New Belgium Brewing Company, which lies next to the French Broad River and is among thousands of city businesses and households affected.

So far, North Carolinians have received more than USD 27 million in individual assistance approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said MaryAnn Tierney, a regional administrator for the agency. More than 83,000 people have registered for individual assistance, according to the office of Governor Roy Cooper.

In Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, FEMA-approved assistance has surpassed USD 12 million for survivors, Tierney said on Saturday during a news briefing. "This is critical assistance that will help people with their immediate needs, as well as displacement assistance that helps them if they cannot stay in their homes," she said.

She encouraged residents impacted by the storm to register for disaster assistance. "It is the first step in the recovery process," she said. "We can provide immediate relief in terms of serious needs assistance to replace food, water, medicines, other life safety, critical items, as well as displacement assistance if you cannot stay in your home."

Helene's raging floodwaters shocked mountain towns hundreds of miles inland and far from where the storm made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast, including in the Tennessee mountains that Dolly Parton calls home. The country music star has announced a USD 1 million donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing immediate assistance to Hurricane Helene flood victims.

In addition, her East Tennessee businesses as well as the Dollywood Foundation are combining efforts, pledging to match her donation to Mountain Ways with a USD 1 million contribution. Parton said she feels a close connection to the storm victims because so many of them "grew up in the mountains just like I did".

"I cannot stand to see anyone hurting, so I wanted to do what I could to help after these terrible floods," she said. "I hope we can all be a little bit of light in the world for our friends, our neighbours -- even strangers -- during this dark time they are experiencing." Walmart US president and CEO John Furner said the company, including Sam's Club and the Walmart Foundation, would increase its commitment and donate a total of USD 10 million to hurricane relief efforts.

In Newport, an eastern Tennessee town of about 7,000, residents continued cleaning up on Saturday from the destruction caused by Helene's floodwaters. Mud still clung to the basement walls of one Main Street funeral home. The ground-floor chapel of another nearby was being dried out, a painting of Jesus still hanging on the wall in an otherwise barren room.

Newport City Hall and its police department also took on water from the swollen Pigeon River. Some of the modest, one-story homes along its banks were destroyed, their walls crumbled and rooms exposed. Farther east in unincorporated Del Rio, along a bend in the French Broad River, residents and volunteers toiled to clean up. The smell of wood hung in the air as people used chainsaws to cut through downed trees, and Bobcats beeped as they moved mangled sheet metal and other debris. Many homes sustained damage, including one that slid off its foundation.

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