Despite hundreds of rescues across six states and an enormous response including thousands of federal personnel and thousands more National Guard members and active-duty troops assisting local responders, the death toll from the sprawling storm is expected to rise.
Many residents are still unaccounted for in a mountainous region known for its pockets of isolation.
“We are continuing to find survivors,” North Carolina’s Buncombe County, the epicenter of the tragedy where more than 70 people are confirmed dead, said in its latest update, adding there are residents still cut off from the outside world due to landslides and destroyed bridges.
In Asheville, a city of about 100,000 at the foot of picturesque mountains, and popular with tourists, thick mud covers streets. Buildings and other structures along riverbanks have been washed away.
Authorities are pursuing their desperate search for survivors in remote areas, while downtown, restaurants and aid groups are providing free food and water. Repair crews are struggling to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers still without electricity.
In the nearby town of Swannanoa, neighbors bound together in misery or despair were looking after one another, cleaning up roads, fixing power lines, distributing gas and sharing meals.
“We’re all sticking together. Everybody’s helping each other,” resident Shelby Holzhauser told AFP.
