SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Hurricane Helene has cut a wide path of destruction throughout the southeastern United States. Dozens of people are dead, and millions still lack power. The remnants of Helene continue to drop heavy rain as far north as Michigan, and rivers are raging across the Blue Ridge Mountains. NPR's Frank Morris has been following the storm and talking to survivors. He joins us now from St. Petersburg. Hey, Frank.
FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
DETROW: So Helene hit the coast of Florida with 140-mile-an-hour winds and record storm surge, but it really seems like some of the worst damage here is inland.
MORRIS: Yeah, that's right. Helene was a big and fast-moving storm. So the winds slacked off a bit as it cut through, like, Terry, Fla., and raced up the center of Georgia. It did incredible damage in places like Valdosta, where it splintered trees and, you know, shredded buildings. But rain has been the bigger killer with this storm. Yesterday saw record numbers of flash flood emergencies, primarily in Georgia and the Carolinas. Western North Carolina was especially hard-hit. Some places got more than two feet of rain, washing out roads and triggering landslides, cutting power. Hundreds of roads are still closed. But then here is Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder.
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AVRIL PINDER: We are in the midst of the most significant natural disaster in our community. Swift water rescue crews worked all night, as did our fire, emergency management services, law enforcement and emergency operation staff.
MORRIS: Those flash floods are receding now, but the water's draining into rivers.
DETROW: OK, so I assume that means, though, the rivers are starting to swell, and that causes more problems.
MORRIS: And that is exactly right, Scott. Some of the worst flooding today is in eastern Tennessee where the Nolichucky River is just coming off record highs and gushing over the top of a major dam. Yesterday, this concrete dam, almost 100 feet tall, started to crack. Greene County sheep - Chief Deputy David Beverly warns residents to get out of the way.
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DAVID BEVERLY: For your safety, it'd be better to evacuate.
MORRIS: The river's actually receding now, so it looks like the 111-year-old dam may hold.
DETROW: Wow. But meanwhile, I mean, hundreds of thousands of people are taking a look at damage and starting to clean up. What happens next?
MORRIS: Oh, man, this cleanup is going to be just gigantic. And it's - you know, so going back down to the coast of Florida, you have whole communities that were just swallowed up by raging storm surge when Helene hit. Maruk Harun (ph) owns this place called the Hernando Beach Gas Stop N Go, which is the only place to get groceries or food in the town of Hernando Beach. Helene, you know, wrecked the place. It tore off the roof. It flooded the store and washed away a big ice machine out front. Now the store is just a muddy, chaotic mess, and it's starting to stink.
MARUK HARUN: It looks like, I don't know, like a tornado came in here because you see those freezers? Like, how are - they're so heavy, and they're on the floor. It's devastating.
MORRIS: Harun is facing a huge and expensive cleanup. She's focused on reopening as quickly as possible.
HARUN: That's my main concern right now. I'm really stressed out. Everybody's lives is already enough messed up. We need to bring some normal back.
MORRIS: And that's probably a ways off. Hurricane Idalia hit this town last year, and some of the repairs from that storm stretched into this summer. Damage from Helene is quite a bit worse.
DETROW: That is NPR's Frank Morris. Frank, thank you so much.
MORRIS: You bet, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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