Helene death toll rises to 103 in North Carolina, 232 in South

(The Center Square) – North Carolina fatalities linked to Hurricane Helene has risen to 103, says the Division of Public Health in the Department of Health and Human Services.

The latest death happened Nov. 12 when a gravel truck “hauling to aid in storm clean up turned over,” says a release. Helene, a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26, is deemed responsible for 232 deaths across seven states, according to information gathered by The Center Square.

The death is the 11th linked to Yancey County. Forty-three were killed in Buncombe County, 10 in Henderson, and five each in Avery and Haywood counties. Twenty-two of the state’s 100 counties recorded a death.

North Carolina is in its eighth week of recovery. Helene was the second of three hurricanes to hit Florida in a span of 66 days, eventually dissipating over the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee and dumping more than 30 inches of rain in multiple places.

Respective state officials say 49 were killed in South Carolina, 34 in Georgia, 25 in Florida, 18 in Tennessee, two in Virginia and one in Indiana. Numbers were confirmed by The Center Square based on information supplied by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services; South Carolina Department of Public Safety; Georgia Emergency Management Agency; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Tennessee Emergency Management Agency; Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin; and the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana.

Helene is the fourth most deadly hurricane from the Atlantic Basin in the last three-quarters of a century. Only Katrina (2005, deaths 1,392), Audrey (1957, deaths 416) and Camille (1969, deaths 256) killed more people.