Hurricane Helene by the numbers: Catastrophic destruction covers 400 miles
After making landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a major Category 4 hurricane last month, Helene has caused catastrophic storm surge, wind damage and inland flooding across a wide swath of the South.
Here's a look at the storm by the numbers, as impacted communities continue to gain a fuller picture of the deadly destruction.
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, ABC News' "Good Morning America" is set to provide five days of special coverage titled "Southeast Strong: Help After Helene"(#SoutheastStrongABC), spotlighting communities across the Southeast impacted by Hurricane Helene and the urgent efforts to help them recover.
Category 4
Helene was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend region on record, making landfall near Perry, Florida, the night of Sept. 26 as a Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds.
400 miles
Helene left a widespread path of destruction across the Southeast -- from Florida's Big Bend to Asheville, North Carolina, nearly 400 miles from where the storm made landfall.
Over 230 dead
At least 230 people have been killed by Helene, The Associated Press reported on Monday, making it the deadliest mainland hurricane since Katrina in 2005.
At least 72 people are dead in hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, which encompasses Asheville, county authorities said Thursday.
Hundreds were reported missing in the county amid widespread power and cellphone outages. The Asheville Police Department said Friday that out of approximately 350 missing persons reported, 270 individuals have been located and reunited with their families, and they are actively working on 75 missing persons cases amid ongoing search and rescue operations.
In Rutherford County, North Carolina, more than 800 people were confirmed safe, with 71 welfare checks still under investigation, county officials said Friday.
There have been dozens of fatalities in South Carolina and Georgia. Fatalities have also been reported in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia due to the storm.
More than 30 inches of rain
Helene, and a separate system earlier in the week, dumped more than 30 inches of rain on North Carolina and produced the biggest local flooding in recorded history.
The flooding in western North Carolina surpassed records that stood for more than a century. The French Broad River in Asheville peaked at 24.67 feet, breaking the previous record of 23.1 feet from July 1916.
Elsewhere, Georgia saw a historic 11 inches of rainfall from the combination of Hurricane Helene and a storm earlier in the week.
15-foot storm surge
The storm surge was more than 15 feet above ground level in parts of Florida, including Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee, both in Taylor County, and Horseshoe Beach in Dixie County.
Record storm surge also hit the Tampa Bay area, with 7.2 feet reported in Tampa East Bay -- beating a record of 4.56 feet set in 2023.
Over 20 reported tornadoes
There were more than 20 reported tornadoes across five states -- Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia -- amid the storm.
In Rocky Mount, North Carolina, 15 people were injured -- including four seriously -- after a tornado tore through the city on Sept. 27, the National Weather Service said.
400 roads closed in 1 state
In North Carolina, extreme floods washed away homes and bridges. At one point, authorities closed 400 roads, deeming them unsafe for travel, state officials said.
Helene-related travel issues continue to persist in western North Carolina, as crews assess infrastructural damages to roads, bridges and culverts in the wake of the storm.
In Florida, emergency responders had to bulldoze 4 to 5 feet of sand off roads in the wake of Helene, Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Oct. 1 while updating that all state roads were expected to have reopened by the end of the day.
4 million customers lost power
More than 4 million customers lost power across the South on Sept. 27 in the wake of Helene.
Hundreds of thousands of customers in the South were still without power on Friday, over a week since Hurricane Helene made landfall.
Thousands of rescues
Thousands of successful rescue missions were reported in Florida, DeSantis said on Sept. 30.
In North Carolina, more than 200 people had been rescued from floodwaters amid Helene, Gov. Roy Cooper said on Sept. 28. Over 150 rescues were performed in Buncombe County alone, officials said.
In Tennessee's Unicoi County, 54 patients and staff were rescued via helicopter on Sept. 27 after getting trapped on the roof of a hospital amid swiftly rising floodwaters.
ABC News' Melissa Griffin and Max Golembo contributed to this report.
