Death tolls doubled in 2 states; 8.5 million gallons of sewage washed into the Hillsborough River off Tampa’s coast during Hurricane Helene.
At least 175 people are confirmed dead across six states Tuesday morning as communities across the Southeast continue search and rescue efforts following powerful Hurricane Helene’s destructive trek across the region.
Officials say the death toll will likely continue to rise as hundreds remain unaccounted for — including more than 600 in Asheville, North Carolina, alone — in the wake of the storm, reports said.
The number of deaths could “be as many as 600 lives lost,” Liz Sherwood-Randall, the White House Homeland Security adviser, said during a Monday update on Helene, Aljazeera said.
Days after Helene’s hit, power and other services are still offline Tuesday morning in the hardest-hit communities.
More than 1.5 million customers remain without power, according to PowerOutage.us. This includes about 618,000 customers in South Carolina, nearly 465,000 in Georgia, about 372,000 in North Carolina, nearly 73,000 in Virginia and nearly 68,000 in Florida.
Overwhelmed sewage systems overflowed during Helene. More than 8.5 million gallons of sewage from 10 overflows in the city of Tampa went into local water systems, mostly along the Hillsborough River and in south Tampa, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Across the bay in St. Petersburg, more than 407,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled during and after Helene.
In Florida, funding assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency is available to individuals and businesses in 17 counties, according to a city of Tampa news release.
These counties include Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Franklin, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Taylor and Wakulla.
Those who suffered losses in these areas can begin applying for assistance by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, calling 1-800-621- 3362 or using the FEMA App.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.