Rescuers scour North Carolina mountains for survivors cut off by Hurricane Helene

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina - Search-and-rescue teams who have already saved hundreds of people scoured the mountains of western North Carolina for more survivors on Tuesday, working amid washed-out roads, smashed bridges and felled power lines following Hurricane Helene.

The storm killed at least 140 people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, CNN reported, citing state and local officials, and the death toll is expected to rise once rescue teams reach isolated towns and telecommunications are restored.

Hundreds of people have been reported missing, a number that is expected to decline as more telecommunications come back on line and emergency workers are able to get into remote areas.

The storm was of a "historic magnitude" and recovery will involve a "multibillion-dollar undertaking" lasting years, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters at the White House.

Damage to cellphone towers has cut off communications, increasing the isolation and leaving relatives and friends worried about the missing.

The North Carolina National Guard has rescued over 500 people, deploying helicopters to ferry in supplies and rescue workers, rescuing survivors and pets along the way, Major General Todd Hunt told a separate press briefing.

In North Carolina's mountainous Buncombe County, which includes the tourist destination of Asheville, 40 people have died, county officials said.

Among the victims in neighboring McDowell County was David Carver, 58, who had attempted to divert water away from his home in Linville Falls, according to a friend who tried to save him.

As Carver worked with a shovel in driving rain on Friday, half his house gave way in a mudslide, taking him down the hillside with it.

His life-long friend and neighbor Ken Fisher, 60, rushed to help after Carver was swept into a drainage pipe where he was trapped by trees and other debris.

Fisher poured water over Carver's face to wash off mud so he could open his eyes, told him his wife was safe and prayed with him.

"I told him I wasn't going to let him die there, I said 'I'm going to get you out of there," Fisher recalled. He stayed with Carver for 11 hours until emergency personnel were able to get him out of the pipe.

Carver died in hospital at around 4 a.m. on Saturday from trauma to internal organs.

'BEYOND BELIEF'

North Carolina was coordinating 92 search and rescue teams from 20 states and the U.S. government, according to Governor Roy Cooper. Most efforts were in the Appalachian Mountains that run through the western part of the state where the storm ripped up roads, leveled trees and tossed homes about.

Cooper on Tuesday called the destruction in western North Carolina "beyond belief" with many small roads and bridges serving mountain communities washed away.

"The challenges are immense," Cooper said.

Power outages were down to 420,000 from a peak of 1 million in North Carolina with all but two hospitals in the west of the state back on commercial power, said state Health Department Secretary Kody Kinsley. Access to public drinking water systems was scarce.

In all 1.5 million homes and businesses in six states from Florida to West Virginia remained without power on Tuesday morning, according to the website Poweroutage.us.

Hundreds of roads were closed, and thousands of people have registered for U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, officials said on Monday.

The road closures, power outages and lack of drinking water added the misery of storm victims.

Covered in mud, Jannette Montenegro shoveled two feet (60 cm) of river sediment and debris out of Cotton Mill Studios, a building filled with shops and art studios she owns in Asheville, a popular tourist destination.

Her son's Cuban food truck, Guajiro, which was parked out front, was toppled in the water and washed away, she said.

"My son's livelihood is gone," said Montenegro, 52. "Everything here is gone, washed away."

Helene was a powerful Category 4 hurricane when it slammed into the Florida Gulf coast on Thursday, tearing a destructive path through southeastern states for several days. REUTERS