Hurricane Helene. The element kills in the USA. The death toll is rising

Helene made landfall late Thursday evening local time near the mouth of the Aucilla River on the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale. The wind exceeded 220 kilometers per hour.

It became a post-tropical cyclone late on Friday, but continued to bring heavy rain to several states, triggering life-threatening flooding.

According to Moody's estimates, material damage caused by Helene will amount to $15-26 billion.

Over the past two days, Atlanta, Georgia, has experienced the heaviest rainfall the city has ever experienced. State authorities reported on Friday that more than 2,800 liters of rain fell there per square meter.

As CNN reported on Saturday, 55 people died as a result of the disaster. Fatalities were reported in the following states: South Carolina (19), Georgia (17), Florida (11), North Carolina (6) and Virginia (1). On Friday, the death toll was 25.

As CNN reported, two of the 15 people killed in Georgia died as a result of a tornado. In South Carolina, the dead included two firefighters and two residents who were hit by trees. Several people drowned in Florida.

More than three million customers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia were without power.

In Pinellas County, Florida, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said he had never seen destruction like Hurricane Helene's.

More than 50 people were rescued from the roof of a hospital in Unicoi County, Tennessee. The evacuation of patients and staff was made impossible by the swollen Nolichucky River, emergency services reported.

As South Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said, Helene “is one of the worst storms in modern history for parts of the state.”

The mayor of Cocke County, Tennessee, ordered the evacuation of central Newport due to the threat of a nearby dam bursting.

In Buncombe County, North Carolina, landslides forced authorities to close Interstates 40 and 26.

About 1,500 federal employees specializing in disaster response have been deployed to at-risk regions. In Florida, beaches along the coast near Tampa remain closed. Residents of some parts of the city of St. Pete, Florida was advised not to flush toilets because the sewage treatment plant was shut down. City officials warned that the discharge would cause sewage to back up into homes. Officials said it would take at least 48 hours for the plant to resume operations.

Before the hurricane hit, the governors of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency.

On Friday, the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, urged residents to stay off the roads as the city braces for flooding.

– Stay at home, take care of your safety. Let's also make sure that emergency vehicles can get to where services are needed, said Mayor Andre Dickens.

The strong wind that accompanied the disaster caused trees to fall on buildings. A church in Perry, Florida, lost its roof after renovations were recently completed after last year's hurricane. According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the damage caused by Helene appears to be greater than the combined losses caused last August by hurricanes Idalia and Debby.

In an interview with NPR public radio, expert Brad Johnson from Davidson College noted that due to heavy rainfall, the danger may be caused by broken trees and rocks that can be carried by water over a distance of over 1.5 kilometers.

At least 115 buildings in the southern Georgia city of Valdosta were severely damaged by Helene, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said on Friday. “We know that many people are trapped in their homes,” he added.

More than 400 roads remain closed in western North Carolina, the state Department of Transportation reported Saturday morning.

Meteorologists earlier warned of storm surges of up to six meters. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Florida's capital, Tallahassee, has issued an “extreme wind” warning for the Big Bend area.

Helene is the 14th strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. since records began and the seventh strongest hurricane in Florida, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.