Gov. Roy Cooper on Saturday evening confirmed 10 deaths in western North Carolina related to Helene so far after record-breaking floods devastated the region.
Rutherford County emergency authorities said more than 100 people were rescued from the Lake Lure and Chimney Rock area and taken to a high school in Rutherfordton that is serving as a shelter. Officials were monitoring a dam at Lake Lure and had issued an evacuation order Friday but later said engineers had deemed it not at risk of imminent failure.
Roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed, transportation officials said. Rivers in Asheville and other communities remained at major flood stage Saturday.
“This is catastrophic devastation for western North Carolina,” the governor told Spectrum News 1 Saturday night, and said that saving lives was the state’s top priority. He said efforts to rescue people and get supplies are ongoing.
There were scenes of devastation from around Asheville and many other towns in the region. Hundreds of roads are blocked by downed trees or mudslides or are washed out.
"Stay home, stay safe and check on your neighbor. We’re Buncombe strong and we will get through this," said Taylor Jones with Buncombe County EMS.
FEMA, the Red Cross, local leaders and others are all banding together to continue rescues and bring in needed supplies. Cooper said dozens of states are helping North Carolina.
“This water is fierce. … The danger is not over. The sun’s out, but there’s going to be more flooding that’s going to occur,” Cooper said Saturday evening.
Cooper earlier on Saturday asked the federal government for a major disaster declaration for western North Carolina, which could help get federal aid to the area quicker.
“Helene brought pain and destruction to our state, and we’re working to get help to people quickly,” Cooper said earlier Saturday. “As waters recede and winds die down, families and communities will need assistance to clean up and recover and this request can help speed up the process.”
Saturday evening, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Emergency Management officials warned shoreline residents along Lake Norman, Mountain Island Lake, the Catawba River and Lake Wylie to stay aware of rising floodwaters.
There are mandatory evacuation orders for Riverside Drive, Lake Drive, Riverhaven Drive and parts of Beagle Club Road, as well as Hart Road near Mountain Island Lake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County emergency officials said.
The French Broad River crested at more than 24 feet, with floodwater covering homes and businesses along the river. The Swannanoa River at Biltmore Village crested at almost 23 feet, with water covering buildings and cutting off the area from the rest of the city. Video from residents showed creeks swell into raging rivers, lifting homes from their foundations, and washing them down with floods.
County officials said people did die in the floods there but would not say how many. It could take days before the true toll of the flooding in the mountains is known.
Interstate 40 and Interstate 26 were impassable. Downed trees, washed out roads, mudslides and landslides closed the interstates and hundreds of smaller roads.
Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses remain without power in the region. The city of Asheville and many other communities are under boil water advisories.
Asheville, Hendersonville and other communities enacted nighttime curfews.
Cellphone service for large swaths of the mountains is cut off.
"We do not have an estimate for power restoration or cell tower restoration, but please only call 911 for emergencies,” said Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder. Most traffic lights are also out in the county.
"Please be patient, it is coming,” Pinder said.
Cooper also stressed he is working with cellphone providers and NCDOT to get cellphone service restored to mountain areas after Helene knocked out fibers and other infrastructure when the storm moved through. He said some service had already been restored when speaking with Spectrum News 1 Saturday evening.
Officials asked people to stay off the roads and away from floodwaters. The EMS director compared the flooded rivers to "toxic spillways" with hazardous material flowing through the water.
"Today's flooding from #Helene is worse than the Great Flood of 1916, the flood of record in Western North Carolina," North Carolina State Climatologist Kathie Dello said on X.
"Please, keep the good people of Western North Carolina in your thoughts. They will be recovering from this generational storm for a long time," she said.
Christian disaster relief organization, The Samaritan’s Purse, also has people and resources on the ground. The group is also based in North Carolina’s hard-hit mountains and have offices in Boone.
Jason Kimak, senior director of North American Ministries for Samaritan’s Purse, said while he and others are responding to the disaster, they are also struggling with impacts from the storm themselves.
“But this what we do. We respond to help others in need,” Kimack said.
He said the Christian organization is also helping neighboring states and Florida with disaster relief.