Helene’s survivors shoulder catastrophic loss and destruction after storm leaves at least 213 dead

More than a week has passed since Helene rammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast as a hurricane and began slicing what would become a deep scar of loss and destruction from there to Virginia, killing at least 213 people and obliterating countless homes, businesses and lifetimes worth of precious belongings.

More than a week has passed since Helene rammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast as a hurricane and began slicing what would become a deep scar of loss and destruction from there to Virginia, killing at least 213 people and obliterating countless homes, businesses and lifetimes worth of precious belongings. Searches for missing loved ones grow more desperate each day as officials say hundreds are unaccounted for and rescue crews are hindered by cell service outages and ruined roads and bridges. People have reported hiking hours to check on trapped loved ones and spending agonizing moments scouring soaked river banks for those swept away with their homes. In North Carolina’s Buncombe County, where Asheville is situated, more than 200 people were unaccounted for as of Thursday and 72 people had been found dead so far, the county sheriff said. The scope of destruction is becoming clearer as people slowly regain access to their neighborhoods, only to find their homes in tatters or washed away completely by floodwaters. A couple in Swannanoa, North Carolina, say they barely escaped last week as floodwaters gushed into their home and transformed the neighborhood into a river, pulling their truck down the street. They returned to find the inside of their house had been overturned and caked in mud, nearly everything destroyed. “We lost just about everything we owned, and that included vehicles,” Joe Dancy told CNN’s Laura Coates on Thursday night. “But we have the most important thing: our lives. And we are forever and always going to be thankful for that.”