Death toll mounts as Hurricane Helene carves path across southern US

Authorities across a wide swath of the southeastern United States face the daunting task of cleaning up from Hurricane Helene, one of the most powerful storms to hit the country, as the death toll continued to rise.

At least 43 deaths were reported by late on Friday, and officials feared more bodies will be discovered across several states.

Helene, downgraded late on Friday to a post-tropical cyclone, continued to produce heavy rains across several states, leading to life-threatening flooding that threatened to create dam failures that could inundate entire towns.

In Florida’s Pinellas County near Tampa, Sheriff Bob Guiltier said he had never seen destruction like that which Helene wrought. “I would just describe it, having spent the last few hours out there, as a war zone,” Guiltier told a news conference.

At least 3.5 million customers remained without power across the southern states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, with authorities warning it could be several days before services were fully restored.