New York: Rescue, relief and recovery efforts continued in hurricane-stricken US states as the death toll rose to over 180.
At least 189 people have died across six states and hundreds are still missing as a result of the storm and its aftermath as of Wednesday evening, Xinhua news agency reported quoting CNN.
North Carolina has reported 95 deaths, while South Carolina has reported 39 deaths so far, said the report.
Helene has killed 25 people in Georgia and 19 in Florida. The death toll in Tennessee and Virginia stands at nine and two, respectively.
US President Joe Biden decided Wednesday to immediately deploy “up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support the delivery of food, water and other critical commodities to communities affected by Hurricane Helene.”
Those soldiers will join over 6,000 US National Guard personnel from 12 states and more than 4,800 personnel from across the federal workforce to support effective Hurricane response.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, travelled separately to the storm-ravaged states on Wednesday.
“He will take an aerial tour of areas impacted by Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, receive operational briefings and meet with first responders and local officials. He will also engage with first responders and officials in South Carolina,” said the White House in a press release, adding that Biden will also visit Florida and Georgia in the coming days.
Biden joined a briefing on Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, after spending the day touring Greenville, South Carolina, and surveying damage across North Carolina, NBC News reported.
Biden called the disaster a “storm of historic proportions” and noted that damage is still being assessed as people remain unaccounted for, the report added.
Harris visited Georgia on Wednesday and will travel to North Carolina in the coming days. Her Republican rival, former US President Donald Trump, visited the storm area in Georgia on Monday.
Officials said that power outages are improving as restoration teams from across the nation gain access to communities and debris is removed. About 1.6 million customers are still without power as of Wednesday morning, which is a reduction of more than 65 per cent from the region-wide peak of 4.6 million.
US Federal Emergency Management Agency has shipped over 8.5 million meals, more than 7 million litres of water, 150 generators and over 220,000 tarps to aid response efforts for the historic storm, according to the White House.
–IANS