Family members post desperate Facebook messages as hundreds of Helene remain missing

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Hundreds of people are still missing in six states following the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene.

Helene is now one of the deadliest storms in US history. Late Tuesday, 160 deaths were reported. Most of the deaths occurred in North Carolina.

“The current data we have suggests there could be up to 600 fatalities,” Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall said Monday. “But we have no confirmation of this. We know there are 600 who are either lost or missing.”

Sherwood-Randall warned that the numbers “fluctuate widely” and that there are “many reports that do not agree with the numbers.”

She added: “As the numbers rise as we reach more places that are not yet fully developed in terms of disaster and emergency response operations, we may see more people sadly losing their lives.” But it may also be that the numbers aren’t going up as much as people predicted.”

The governors of the affected states did not provide an update to that number on Tuesday.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Emergency Management Director William Ray said they were working with the state's Information and Referral Service to determine the number of missing people.

“We know there will be more deaths,” Cooper said.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced that the number of confirmed deaths from the storm in his state rose to 36 as of Tuesday afternoon.

“This has hit our region really hard,” he said.

A Facebook group with more than 477,000 members included posts from people looking for family members. Some also provided updates saying their relatives had been found.

Search and rescue efforts continued in western North Carolina, with 92 teams working on scene. Helicopters provided air support while rescuers trudged through deep mud with dogs.

Images taken over the weekend in the Wautaga County town of Boone showed the extent of the damage, with collapsed homes and entire areas under water.

On Tuesday, Watauga County Emergency Management Director Will Holt said a team was still in the area. “Now we're really starting to get into isolated areas and find out where people are,” he said.

The Watauga County Sheriff's Office said The Watauga Democrat On Monday there were two deaths reported in connection with the storm. Forty deaths were reported in hard-hit Buncombe County.

Thousands of federal workers have been deployed to help Helene, and President Joe Biden will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday. Officials said the president had waited to travel there until it was clear his presence would not disrupt rescue efforts.

Hurricane Helene hit the Big Bend region of Florida last Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Kirk strengthened into a hurricane on Thursday. The storm is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane in the coming days.