92 people are still missing in North Carolina from Hurricane Helene

Topline

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper confirmed Tuesday that 92 North Carolinians are still missing, nearly three weeks after Hurricane Helene – the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States since Katrina in 2005 – struck the Southeast swept, killing hundreds and leaving an unknown number of people still missing across the region.

Important facts

Get text alerts on Forbes breaking news: We're introducing SMS alerts to ensure you're always on top of the most important news breaking the day's headlines. Send an SMS “Notifications” to (201) 335-0739 or log in Here: joinsubtext.com/forbes.

Big number

981. That's how many missing people were reported to volunteer Ellie Erickson, who created a Google spreadsheet to keep track of people reported missing. According to People, Erickson has been collecting information from those who have come forward to report loved ones missing and updates the sheet when someone is found. Those still listed as missing are mostly from North Carolina, but the list also includes people from Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. The table also lists 2,823 people who were found.

Surprising fact

Eleven people from a North Carolina family died in a mudslide caused by Hurricane Helene in Fairview, North Carolina. The Craig family, which has lived in the Appalachian Mountain community for 80 years, lost nearly a dozen members when a mudslide swept through a valley. Survivor Jesse Craig told Fox News he lost both of his parents, two cousins, an aunt and uncle, his great-aunt and great-uncle and three other relatives.

tangent

In his update on Tuesday, Cooper also called on North Carolinians to stop participating in a “persistent and dangerous flow of misinformation” that is hindering recovery efforts. False stories about conditions in North Carolina — such as rumors that 2,000 people were trapped in a church and 1,000 unidentified bodies were piled up in an Asheville hospital — have been making the rounds on social media, and Buncombe County spokeswoman Lillian Govus said the lies debunk “We need time and resources to conduct these important life-saving maneuvers in our community.” Misinformation has also been a problem at the federal level, with President Donald Trump and his allies spreading lies about the hurricane response . They falsely claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was unable to adequately respond to the storm because it had diverted so much money to aid for migrants. and billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk falsely claimed on X that FEMA was not allowing aid to be delivered. On Monday, a man was arrested in North Carolina for allegedly threatening to harm FEMA workers in North Carolina.

Important background

Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of ​​Florida around 11:10 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 26, as a Category 4 storm. It moved quickly north through Georgia before reaching the Tennessee-North Carolina border, where up to two feet of rain caused catastrophic flooding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Flooding and landslides have destroyed thousands of roads, including major highways I-40 and I-26, which are still closed and need extensive repairs before they can reopen. Fox Weather reported over the weekend that the death toll in Helene had risen to over 250 with 123 deaths in North Carolina, although the state had only confirmed 95 deaths as of Monday. Officials said Thursday they were aware of additional deaths and were working to confirm they were caused by the storm.

Further reading

ForbesHurricane Helene: Unknown number of people still missing as death toll risesFrom Mary Whitfill RoeloffsForbesBlake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Announce $1 Million Hurricane Relief Donation: All the Celebrities Who Helped OutFrom Mary Whitfill RoeloffsForbesDamage from Hurricane Helene could lead to a shortage of IV bagsFrom Robert Glatter, MDForbesAfter Hurricane Helene, quartz mining resumes in North Carolina – here's how the storm affected the world's semiconductor industryFrom Mary Whitfill RoeloffsForbesHow Hurricanes Milton and Helene Will Impact U.S. JobsFrom Jack Kelly