Last Report on Hurricane Helene Confirms its Destruction

It has now officially been six months since Hurricane Helene devastated the Florida Gulf Coast before moving up into the interior Southeast and unleashing deadly flooding across the southern Appalachians. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) released its final report on the storm last week. Here is a look at the official numbers from this historical storm.

Final Death Toll Stands at 249

Helene is distinguished as the deadliest hurricane to strike the continental U.S. since Katrina impacted New Orleans in 2005. While the damage incurred by the storm was obvious in the days following landfall, the most updated numbers emphasize the destruction that came as the storm roamed this part of the U.S. for days.

Hurricane Helene was responsible for 249 deaths. Approximately one-third of the fatalities were considered "indirect," encompassing car accidents, heart attacks, or accidents that happened during the clean-up efforts. North Carolina saw the highest number of deaths at 106. Of that number, 77 were blamed on flooding.