Almost three weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall, 92 people are still unaccounted for in North Carolina, officials said Tuesday.
Gov. Roy Cooper said that number was likely to change as emergency responders continued assessing the devastation throughout the state.
The nationwide death toll from Helene is estimated at 243 people, with 125 of those deaths confirmed in North Carolina.
“I want to caution that this is not a definitive count, because the task force is continuing its work,” Cooper said. “The number will continue to fluctuate as more reports come in and others are resolved.”
Around 13,000 customers remained without power throughout the state on Tuesday, according to Cooper, down from a high of more than 1 million immediately after the storm.
An estimated 580 roads remained closed Tuesday morning, the governor said. Around 1,200 roads were initially closed due to the devastation.
“This has been an unprecedented response to the worst storm in North Carolina history,” Cooper said.
However, the recovery effort has been hampered by a distrust of federal emergency personnel with FEMA, according to governors. Republican politicians led by presidential candidate Donald Trump and including North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson have spread numerous lies about FEMA since the storm hit.
Those false statements have inspired some North Carolina residents to arm themselves and threaten FEMA workers. One of those people, William Jacob Parsons, was arrested over the weekend and charged with threatening public safety.
The alleged threat led FEMA to temporarily alter its recovery efforts in areas of the badly hit state.
“These are people who put their lives on hold to help those who have lost everything,” FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said Tuesday of her employees. “It’s heartbreaking to see words or acts of hatred toward anyone, let alone federal responders who are here to help people in this critical time.”
Helene made landfall Sept. 26 in Florida and then plowed northward before stalling over the Carolinas, dumping hefty rainfall on Appalachian towns unprepared for such a storm. Helene is now the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina killed more than 1,200 people in 2005.
Rural areas in western North Carolina were most heavily impacted by the storm. Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, has recorded 72 deaths, according to the county sheriff.
