Passage of Helene could kill up to 600 people, White House says

Officially, 110 deaths have already been counted after Helene’s passage in the southwestern US. The American channel CNN reports at least 115 fatalities, spread across six different states.

Liz Sherwood-Randall, adviser to the US president on homeland security, warns that the death toll could still rise significantly. “There are 600 people for whom we have no news yet,” she says. Sherwood-Randall emphasizes that some of the missing may still be alive.

US President Joe Biden plans to visit the area affected by Helene’s passage as soon as possible. The president has called the deadly storm “historic.”

Helene hit Florida Thursday evening as the most powerful storm ever to make landfall in the northwest of the state, with winds of up to 140 miles per hour. The storm then moved north and gradually weakened, but still caused heavy destruction. Entire cities were flooded and roads were washed away. A lot of people got stuck at home. Millions of people are still affected by the consequences of the storm.