Ron Grindstaff, right, comforts his wife, Marie, as they remove belongings from their home in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024, in Old Fort, North Carolina. According to reports, at least 100 people have been killed across the southeastern U.S., and millions are without power due to the storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — White House Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said Monday during a press briefing there are 600 people unaccounted for following Hurricane Helene, as federal officials mount a response to the catastrophic storm in states across the Southeast.
Sherwood-Randall said that could lead the death toll to rise into the hundreds, but added officials are “very hopeful” some of those missing have cellphones that are not working and “actually are alive.”
“I’ll caution you, because we’ve seen this before, those numbers vary widely,” Sherwood-Randall said. “There’s a lot of reporting that doesn’t add up about the numbers.”
The Associated Press said Monday night that more than 125 lives have been claimed.
President Joe Biden, who has held multiple briefings and calls on the hurricane, announced late Monday he plans to travel to North Carolina on Wednesday. Biden had said he wanted to wait until his presence would not be disruptive to recovery operations.
Sherwood-Randall told reporters the Federal Emergency Management Agency and numerous other federal departments have moved staff and equipment into the Southeast to assist local and state emergency responders as residents struggle to access basic necessities.
FEMA, among many other recovery efforts, was speeding up its $750 payments to households that qualified for “serious needs assistance,” which can be used to pay for essential items like water, food, baby formula and medication.
“This is not the full extent of FEMA assistance to individuals, but it’s the first element of it that becomes immediately available with a major disaster declaration,” Sherwood-Randall said. “And it gets people cash when they’re absolutely desperate for it.”
Survivors who register for FEMA’s individual assistance program will be able to receive federal help repairing cars, homes, and some other types of personal property that were damaged by the hurricane, she said.
People who have damage to their homes should first contact their insurance companies, but Sherwood-Randall noted there are several federal programs that help with the rebuilding and recovery process as well.
“If people have insurance, that’s of course very important for rebuilding. If they do not have insurance, they have access to federal assistance,” she said. “But it’s a long road to recovery for people because there’s so much work to be done. We have to acknowledge that.”
People who need assistance from FEMA should call 1-800-621-3362, register on https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or fill out an application on the FEMA app, she said.
Disaster recovery centers opening
FEMA was also in the process of opening disaster recovery centers in affected communities.
“What’s important about these centers is they aggregate federal support in one place,” Sherwood-Randall said. “It used to be the case that survivors had to go to multiple different departments and agencies to find out what kind of help they could get access to. What we do is we put everyone together, either in a standing building that survived the natural disaster, or in a trailer, if that’s necessary.”
Centers opened on Monday in Manatee County, Sarasota County, and Hillsborough County in Florida, she said.
In places like Asheville, North Carolina, where FEMA likely won’t be able to open a brick-and-mortar center, employees will go door-to-door, she said.
“FEMA literally goes knocking with an iPad in hand so they can help people register for the assistance they need because they may not have power, their cellphone may have run out and they need someone to help them get registered quickly,” Sherwood-Randall said.
FEMA planned to install 30 Starlink receivers in western North Carolina “to provide immediate connectivity for those in greatest need,” Sherwood-Randall said.
FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission, and private cell phone companies were moving to install temporary cell phone towers and allow roaming, which would allow customers to use cell networks they don’t subscribe to, she said.
So far more than 3,500 federal employees involved in response and recovery efforts related to Hurricane Helene are on the ground throughout the Southeast, including more than 1,000 from FEMA, she said.
Multiple federal agencies in action
The Department of Defense was using helicopters and high-water vehicles to assist in search and rescue efforts. The Army Corps of Engineers was helping to restore electricity, assess infrastructure, including dams, and remove debris.
The U.S. Coast Guard had diverted thousands of personnel on post-storm assessments to help get ports in Florida reopened as quickly as possible.
U.S. Department of Agriculture staff, particularly in its Farm Services Agency, were working to provide emergency assistance to farmers with damage to crops and livestock.
Additionally, more than 50,000 utility workers from the United States and Canada were in the region to help the 2 million people without power get reconnected as soon as it was possible and safe to do so, Sherwood-Randall said.
“FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are also making available generators of many different sizes that are ready to be deployed upon the request of any state,” Sherwood-Randall said. “And as power is being restored throughout parts of Florida and Georgia, power crews are being moved into other states to assist with additional restoration efforts.
“We see power outage numbers improving where restoration teams are able to gain access to communities and the debris is cleared.”