(GoRealNewsNow.com) – As a result of Hurricane Helene’s disaster, more than 1,000 people are missing in a tragic North Carolina county and 30 people have already been confirmed dead.
Outlining ongoing rescue efforts and the opening of medical shelters in areas overwhelmed by flooding, authorities in Buncombe County revealed the grim toll during an emergency meeting.
They also launched a special website to help locate the missing people, noting that there have been “more than 1,000 reports so far. ”
“We’re doing the best we can,” said Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller, explaining that collapsed roads, damaged infrastructure and widespread flooding were making it nearly impossible to reach those stranded.
The county, which includes Asheville, has already reported 30 of North Carolina’s 36 confirmed deaths, a number that Governor Roy Cooper admitted will likely increase.
“We know there will be more,” Cooper said.
In turn, North Carolina Adjutant General Todd Hunt stated rescue teams have managed to save more than 40 people in the Asheville area, including an infant, thanks to 911 calls and social media pleas.
Critical supplies are being airlifted to isolated communities as crews work to clear roads and restore communication lines.
Hurricane Helene, which slammed into Florida, has killed at least 89 people so far and left millions without power.
One close call came for Katie Pate of Fairfax, Virginia, who posted a plea for help on X after losing contact with her parents outside Asheville.
“My dad called to tell me they were getting the generator set up, then after that, he was a ghost,” Pate said.
She added, “I was seeing just a steady stream of deterioration in western North Carolina, but all I could do was sit and wait.”
After 24 hours of silence, Pate finally reached them. She learned the storm had knocked out power across most of the county. Roads were flooded or blocked by fallen trees.
Her parents, both 75, used a chainsaw to cut a path to a nearby inn, the only spot in town with cell service.
“People don’t realize that even if you can get someone on the phone, you still can’t get to them. Everywhere is cut off,” Pate explained.
“You have to have a chainsaw to get anywhere. The asphalt in the roads is crumbling. The bridges are collapsing. It’s like a horror movie,” she asserted.
Meanwhile, in Texas, Jessica Drye Turner made an urgent Facebook plea for help rescuing her family members stranded on a rooftop in Asheville, surrounded by rising floodwaters.
“They are watching 18-wheelers and cars floating by,” Turner wrote in a desperate post.
Tragically, Turner later revealed in a follow-up post, widely shared on social media, that help did not arrive in time.
Her parents, both in their 70s, and her 6-year-old nephew drowned when the roof collapsed under them.
“I cannot convey in words the sorrow, heartbreak and devastation my sisters and I are going through nor imagine the pain before us,” Turner wrote.
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