Weather In The USA 2023-up

[Mark]

Dozens of wildfires are causing chaos across the Texas Panhandle as the Smokehouse Creek fire - now the largest blaze in state history - grew to more than 1mn acres on Thursday, even as a dusting of snow brought a measure of relief.

At least two people have died, according to officials. The second victim, confirmed by the Texas department of public safety Thursday afternoon, has been identified as Cindy Owens, a 40-year-old woman who was reportedly overtaken by the fire when she got out of her truck in the town of Canadian. The first, 83-year-old grandmother Joyce Blankenship, was killed in her neighborhood of Stinnett, north-east of Amarillo.

Fueled by parched grasses, strong winds and abnormally warm temperatures, the fires have scorched more than 1.2 million acres since last Sunday, according to the Texas A&M forest service, leaving a desolate landscape of charred prairie, dead cattle and burned-out homes in their wake.

[Mark]

The deadly blizzard, which proved a record-breaking for the Minneapolis area, is finally winding down.

The Twin Cities received 8.2 inches of snow on Sunday, making for the snowiest March day since 2007.

Many areas of the Upper Midwest picked up much more, going on 2 feet in some spots. Duluth, Minnesota hit 21.6 inches, while elsewhere in Minnesota, Casino picked up 18.3 inches, and Lester Park 16.1 inches.

Portions of Minnesota witnessed 76-hours of of continues snowfall, but things are winding down now, mercifully.

Behind the storm, strong northerly winds will funnel bitterly cold air down from Canada, and thermometers, for many, will read in single digits Wednesday morning—or some 25F below average—which will help keep snow on the ground.

This image shows a stop sign blowing in the wind during a spring snowstorm in Nebraska on Monday, March 25, 2024.
Spring snowstorm in Nebraska on Monday [Jeremy Shipe/Storyful].

Spring has failed to sprung above the border, too.

Arctic air has been sinking south of late, supporting a multi-day snowfall event that dropped more than a foot of snow across the likes of southern Alberta. This most recent dumping, combined with other late-season blasts, now puts the city of Calgary in the running for its snowiest March on record, breaking the old 1998 when 70.3 cm settled.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/76-hours-of-continuous-snowfall-whiteout

[Mark]

A strong parade of storms has been making its way through the northern Pacific Ocean, and the location of the jet stream has produced colder storms for Unalaska and the Aleutian region this spring. That's according to Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

"Over the last six weeks, say, the Aleutians have been on the north side of the prevailing storm track, and so on the cold side of the storms," Thoman said. "If the jet stream was say 500 miles farther north, it would still be stormy, but it wouldn't be nearly as cold."

Cold air from above the North Slope brought another round of wintery weather to Western Alaska, the Eastern Aleutians, Kodiak Island and into Southcentral Alaska as well, according to Thoman.

"That was basically a blob of cold air that came down from the high Arctic from north of the North Slope, and it moved southwest through the Bering Strait down through the eastern Bering Sea, and is now actually moving into the western Gulf of Alaska," he said.
https://www.sott.net/article/491516-Cold-air-blob-makes-full-tour-of-Alaska-prolonging-winter-weather

[Mark]

At least four people died Thursday after an "exceptionally" strong storm hit Houston, according to Mayor John Whitmire.

Wind gusts reached 78 mph in the area.

Preliminary investigations indicate falling trees caused two deaths and a fallen crane caused one, according to officials.

Urging residents to stay home, Whitmire said the city was in "recovery mode" and schools will be closed in the Houston area on Friday.

More than 788,000 customers are without power in Texas on Friday morning.





The intense winds came after a rare "high risk" warning for flash flooding was issued in Texas and Louisiana, with the states bracing for up to 9 inches of rain in 24 hours.

"The high risk area has seen over 600% of their normal rainfall for the past two weeks alone," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned, and the flash flooding could be life-threatening.

"High risk" days account for just 4% of days, but they are responsible for more than one-third of flooding deaths, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

The severe weather threat in Houston is now over, allowing residents to begin to clean up on Friday.

The severe weather threat has now moved east, with damaging winds and large hail possible from Louisiana to
https://www.sott.net/article/491495-At-least-4-dead-in-Houston-after-exceptionally-strong-storm-hits-Texas-Mayor

[Mark]

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/05/22/insane-tornado-pipe-intercept-with-windmills-toppled-near-greenfield-iowa/


Reed Timmer

Massive #tornado with multiple vortices rips down windmills and damages homes in Iowa including Greenfield, Iowa. Dominator FPV drone orbited the tornado racing northeast at 55 mph. Dominator 3 could have directly intercepted this tornado. Major tornado outbreak underway

On May 21, 2024, multiple powerful tornadoes tore through southwest Iowa, resulting in fatalities and significant damage. The town of Greenfield, home to about 2,000 people, was hit especially hard. The Adair County Memorial Hospital sustained tornado damage, forcing some storm victims to seek assistance elsewhere. The destruction in Greenfield left a large section of the town leveled, with multiple fatalities and more than a dozen injuries

H/T Dr. Roy Spencer

5
Article Rating

[Mark]

A dipping jet stream has prolonged winter across the likes of Unalaska and the Aleutian region.

According to Rick Thoman, climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks:

"Over the last six weeks, say, the Aleutians have been on the north side of the prevailing storm track, and so on the cold side of the storms. If the jet stream was say 500 miles farther north, it would still be stormy, but it wouldn’t be nearly as cold."

It's been a harsh spring for the region, for Alaska in general, following what was a historically cold and snowy winter.

Avalanches Block Roads In China (again); Snow Clips The Northeast--But Its Just "Weather Whiplash"; Anchorage At 111 Inches; + Europe Forecast A Very Snowy End To February
Avalanches Block Roads In China (again); Snow Clips The Northeast--But Its Just "Weather Whiplash"; Anchorage At 111 Inches; + Europe Forecast A Very Snowy End To February
CAP ALLON
·
FEB 15
Read full story

On May 8 even, the Anchorage International Airport received about an inch of snow. And as explained by Thoman, "there’s only been two other occurrences since the mid 1950s when there’s been more snow than that [this late in the year]."

These latest accumulations have edged the city to within an inch of its all-time snowfall record (of 134.5 inches).
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/winter-prolonged-in-alaska-australi

[Mark]

Here in the Georgetown Lake area they are dealing with about a foot of snow, the really wet and heavy kind that's accumulating on all the branches, causing limbs to break and fall on powerlines. It's led to power outages, here and all over the state.

"Well, I think it's a little crazy, I just came back up from the south where it was nice and warm. I was hoping for spring, but apparently it's not coming today," said Georgetown Lake resident Joe Thomas.

Much of southwest Montana was hit with steady morning snowfall. NorthWestern Energy had crews responding to isolated power outages from Missoula to Bozeman.

"The heavy, wet snow is creating conditions for tree limbs to break or bend into power lines," said Jo Dee Black of NorthWestern Energy.

https://www.sott.net/article/491673-Georgetown-Lake-hit-with-a-foot-of-snow-during-spring-storm-in-Montana

[Mark]

The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) released its preliminary skier visit numbers for the 2023-24 season. It is reporting a total of 60.4 million visitors, which ranks as the fifth-best on record in NSAA books dating back to the 1978-79 season.

A cold and snowy spring delivered record-breaking totals to many Western slopes, and visitors lapped it up.

Despite alarmist calls of a diminishing U.S. ski industry due to cLiMaTe ChAnGe, the opposite is playing out. Ski resorts for the fourth year in a row now have registered top-10 seasons for visitor numbers.

Checking with the records, this season, 2023/24, will rank as the 5th-best; last season, 2022/23, was the best-ever (also the snowiest season ever); 2022/21 rank as the 2nd-best; with 2020/21 coming 7th-best.

The US ski industry is booming.

[Mark]

The Denver metropolitan area experienced an intense hailstorm Thursday, which led to the largest hailstones recorded in the county in the last 35 years, resulting in widespread damage.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a 'destructive' Severe Thunderstorm Warning for the Denver area late Thursday evening, emphasizing the life-threatening situation with baseball-sized hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph.

The largest hail report in Denver County measured 2.75 inches in Commerce City on Thursday. It's the largest hail report in the county since 1989, the FOX Forecast Center said.

"The hail was just pounding many of these areas for almost an hour," said Jim Hooley with FOX 31 Denver.

https://www.sott.net/article/491886-Denver-metro-hit-by-largest-hail-in-35-years-as-baseball-sized-stones-pummel-area

[Mark]

Many Minnesotans will be cleaning up Thursday from a storm system that brought sizable hail, heavy winds and possible tornado touchdowns.



https://www.sott.net/article/492223-Severe-summer-storms-leave-damage-across-Minnesota

[Mark]

Across the United States, anomalous cold has been the dominant story this week

The mercury across the majority of the CONUS has held below average for going on a week now, with more of the same forecast.



GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies (C) for July 22 [tropicaltidbits.com].

GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies (C) for July 23 [tropicaltidbits.com].

Daily records have fallen, including at Killeen-Fort Cavazos, Texas which set new record-low maximum Tuesday of 82F. According National Weather Service books, this is the lowest ever high temperature for July 23 in the area, beating the 86F from 1978.

A cold front blew into Texas this week, tumbling the mercury and rolling in thunderstorms through Central regions.

Since Monday, daily records have also been toppled across Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana — that is, according to NOAA's skewed (often times fabricated) dataset.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/texas-cold-front-breaks-daily-records

[Mark]

Storms Wednesday night left behind the largest reported hailstone in Minnesota in more than 55 years.

The hail fell roughly 4 miles northwest of Chokio, in western Minnesota, and was found by Matt Benson in his backyard. It measured nearly 6 inches in diameter.

"It kind of came out of nowhere here at work, and before you knew it, we closed the doors, and the wind swirled in, and it was pretty crazy for a little bit," Benson said.

He said he made his way home shortly before 5 p.m. and made it inside.

"The next thing I knew, there was baseball-sized hail," Benson said.





He said he walked around to see how big all the hail was and found the hailstone around 10 or 15 feet from his garage.

"I mean, I've heard of like, soft-ball-sized hail, but not around Minnesota," he said. "I needed to get a measurement and see how big it was. And yeah, 6 inches. I was like, this is unbelievable!"

Benson said his steel roof is badly dented and the back window of one of his SUVs was completely blown out.

"It was cool for a moment," Benson said. "I wouldn't wish anyone to be out and about, walking around and something like that."
 
https://sott.net/en493642

[Mark]

Officials in Scurry County in west Texas declared a state of emergency after more than 100 earthquakes rocked the area.

So many earthquakes have struck the west Texas county of Scurry in the past week - more than 100 at last count - local officials have declared a state of emergency.

Scurry County Judge Dan Hicks wrote in his Friday declaration of disaster that since the first earthquake, registering magnitude 4.9, was felt the night of July 22, "damage has been found throughout Scurry County in businesses and residences."

The county's buildings can handle a few quakes here and there, but the cumulative effects of so many small ones, punctuated by larger shaking, has become cause for concern.

Comment: Local channel KCBD reports damage from a 5.1 tremor:
According to the USGS, a 5.1-magnitude quake occurred east of Snyder, northeast of Hermleigh. It was felt about 80 miles to the northwest in Lubbock, and across parts of the South Plains and West Texas. On the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, the USGS shows a VI-Strong rating. The USGS again updated the magnitude, now to 5.1 as of 11 a.m. There were also aftershocks of 3.2 at 9:40 and 2.7 at 10:44.

[...]

"Since the first earthquake that was felt on July 22, 2024 at about 9:38 PM, a 4.9, and a 4.4 at about 9:46 PM to today's 5.0 at about 9:28 AM July 26, 2024, damage has been found throughout Scurry County in businesses and residences," Hicks wrote on Facebook. He said emergency management coordinator Jay Callaway is working closely with the Texas Department of Emergency Management to monitor the damage throughout Scurry County and the surrounding area.

The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas operations in the state, is investigating this week's quakes in the Camp Springs area and along the Fisher-Scurry County line.

Here is a statement from the RRC:

"In efforts to reduce seismicity possibly caused by underground injection of produced water, several operators in the area have converted deep saltwater disposal wells to shallow saltwater disposal wells within the last year. (Disposal wells are used to dispose produced water, which is water that comes out from wells during oil and gas production.) RRC inspectors are out inspecting saltwater disposal wells within two and a half miles of the cluster of earthquakes this week and the RRC will evaluate next steps that can be taken to mitigate earthquakes. We'll continue to take measures necessary to protect the environment and residents in the area."

Not specific to this week, on a broad scale according to the USGS website, fracking is not directly causing most induced earthquakes. "It's the disposal of waste fluids that are a byproduct of oil producing that is the primary cause of the the recent increase in earthquakes in the central United States," the USGS states on this page: Myths and Misconceptions About Induced Earthquakes. Additionally, it states not all wastewater injection wells induce earthquakes.


https://www.sott.net/article/493558-Mystery-in-West-Texas-103-earthquakes-recorded-in-one-week

[Mark]

AP
Wed, 07 Aug 2024 10:57 UTC
Savannah Fire Advanced Firefighters
© AP/Stephen B. Morton
Savannah Fire Advanced Firefighters Andrew Stevenson, front, and Ron Strauss carry food to residents in the Tremont Park neighborhood that where stranded in flooding from Tropical Storm Debby, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Savannah, Ga.
Tropical Storm Debby drenched coastal cities in Georgia and South Carolina, stirred up tornadoes and submerged streets with waist-high floodwaters Tuesday, just the beginning of a prolonged storm that could dump staggering rain totals of up to 25 inches (64 centimeters).

Charleston and Savannah, Georgia, took the first blow, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) of rain falling along the coast between the two cities in just over 24 hours. Police blocked all roads into Charleston's downtown peninsula to everyone but essential workers and emergency personnel. Dozens of roads were closed in the historic city because of flooding similar to what it sees several times a year because of rising sea levels.

As Debby swirls just offshore, the heavy rain is expected to move north into parts of South and North Carolina that have already seen two billion-dollar floods in eight years.

In one Savannah neighborhood, firefighters used boats to evacuate some residents and waded through floodwaters to deliver bottled water and other supplies to those who refused to leave.

https://www.sott.net/article/493751-Tropical-Storm-Debby-drenches-Georgia-and-South-Carolina-with-rain-high-water-foot-of-rainfall-in-24-hours

[Mark]

Newsweek
Wed, 21 Aug 2024 12:12 UTC
mmmm
Hail piled up like snow on Tuesday after several feet fell in only 15 minutes around Cascade, Colorado, a video shows.

The hail occurred during a series of thunderstorms for which the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Pueblo, Colorado, issued a slew of warnings. Included in the warnings was the alert that hail, ranging from penny- to ping pong ball-size, depending on the location, could accompany the storms.

The hail even produced "hail fog," an unusual phenomenon that occurs when excessive hail cools the surface temperature to the dew point level, forcing condensation.

AccuWeather shared footage of the hail in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"Have you ever heard of 'hail fog' before? It happened in Colorado on Tuesday!" AccuWeather posted with the video.
https://www.sott.net/article/494162-Several-feet-of-hail-falls-in-Colorado-in-only-15-minutes

[Mark]

California's Sierra Nevada Mountains experienced rare August snowfall and record low temperatures this past weekend. A "winter-like cold front" is how the NWS described it, one that barreled in from the Pacific.

Temperatures across the state plummeted, setting new records.

In Reno, August 24 struggled to a high of just 57F (13.9C) which made for the coldest August day in books dating back to 1893.

South Lake and Lovelock, likewise, were among the locales to also setting new historic benchmarks:
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/rare-snow-and-century-old-cold-records

[Mark]

A cold snap across parts of the Eastern U.S. has broken or tied a myriad of long-standing temperature records. The NWS issued early-season frost advisories for many, with crops at risk.

In Charleston, WV, thermometers dropped to 43F (6C) on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 45F (7C) set in 1944.

Parkersburg, WV, tied its record low of 42F (6C), last recorded in 1986.

Also, the Sunday morning low at Central Park, NY rivaled a record set 153 years ago:



[Storm Team 4 NY]

The fallen daily records stacked up through Sunday, pushing 100 in total.

The benchmarks continued to topple into the early hours of Monday and all.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/cold-records-tumble-across-the-east

[Mark]

Comment: Update September 28

Newsnationnow.com reports:
After making landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, Helene is continuing to track inland as a weakened tropical storm, bringing flooding and leaving millions without power in the Southeast.

There have been at least 44 reported fatalities from the storm across five states after catastrophic flooding and storm surge that left destruction in their wake, according to The Associated Press.

Deaths have been confirmed in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Multiple deaths have been attributed to drowning, while some were the result of trees falling. State officials say dozens more are still trapped inside their homes, The Associated Press reports.

In Florida, crews have been working to rescue people stuck in floodwaters with some areas experiencing up to 9 feet of flooding. Crews are also dealing with downed powerlines and other hazards from the storm.

As Helene barreled through Georgia, wind gusts over 90 mph were reported with sustained winds at 60 mph. Headed toward the Carolinas, there are flood warnings across the Southeast, including North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and southern Illinois and southern Indiana.









In Western North Carolina, significant flooding and road closures were reported with the Lake Lure Dam in Rutherford County at imminent risk of failure. Those in the area were being advised to evacuate immediately.

The flash flood emergency remains in place until 2 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Rising floodwaters and a mudslide washed out the interstate near the North Carolina-Tennessee state line. The closure occurred around 12:30 p.m. Friday and is expected to reopen by 5 p.m. Saturday, NewsNation local affiliate WJZY reports.

Millions have also been left without power thanks to the storm.

More than 595,000 people in Florida are left without power, along with 860,000 outages reported in Georgia, more than 1.16 million in South Carolina and more than 812,000 in North Carolina.

As the weakened system makes its way north, power outages are following. Virginia is reporting more than 220,000 without power, while Ohio has more than 315,000.

https://www.sott.net/article/495083-Hurricane-Helene-slams-into-Florida-and-moves-to-Georgia-with-flooding-power-outages-at-least-44-dead-UPDATE







https://www.sott.net/article/495083-Hurricane-Helene-slams-into-Florida-and-moves-to-Georgia-with-flooding-power-outages-at-least-44-dead-UPDATE

[Mark]

A tornado killed two people in the US state of Georgia, the governor said, as Hurricane Helene churned into the state after causing one death in the neighbouring state of Florida, where it barrelled ashore in the southeastern United States.

Helene weakened to a Category 1 hurricane early on Friday with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), but it left a deadly trail of destruction in both states.

More than 55 million people in the US have been placed under some form of weather alert.

As of Friday morning, broadcaster ABC reported two deaths in Georgia's Wheeler County, while Florida confirmed one death, after a sign fell on a car on a highway in Tampa City.

The hurricane made landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warned that the enormous system could create a "nightmare" storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern US.









Helene was moving rapidly inland after making landfall, with the risk of tornadoes continuing in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and southern North Carolina, forecasters said.

"Helene continues to produce catastrophic winds that are now pushing into southern Georgia," the NHC said in an update on Friday. "Persons should not leave their shelters and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions."



Florida state authorities provided buses to evacuate people from the Big Bend area, home to about 832,000 people, and taking them to shelters in the state capital, Tallahassee.

Officials in Florida urged residents to heed mandatory evacuation orders or face life-threatening conditions ahead of the hurricane's landfall.

"EVERYONE along the Florida Big Bend coast is at risk of potentially catastrophic storm surge," the NHC said on social media.



States of emergency were also declared in Virginia and Alabama, as the NHC warned that much of the southeast could experience power outages, toppled trees and intense flooding

In the southern Appalachian mountains, the National Weather Service has warned the region could be hit with landslides and flooding not seen in more than a century.

"This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era," it said.

Only three Gulf hurricanes since 1988 - Irma in 2017, Wilma in 2005, and Opal in 1995 - have been bigger than Helene's predicted size, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, The Associated Press news agency reported.

Comment: Update September 28

Newsnationnow.com reports:
After making landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, Helene is continuing to track inland as a weakened tropical storm, bringing flooding and leaving millions without power in the Southeast.

There have been at least 44 reported fatalities from the storm across five states after catastrophic flooding and storm surge that left destruction in their wake, according to The Associated Press.

Deaths have been confirmed in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Multiple deaths have been attributed to drowning, while some were the result of trees falling. State officials say dozens more are still trapped inside their homes, The Associated Press reports.

In Florida, crews have been working to rescue people stuck in floodwaters with some areas experiencing up to 9 feet of flooding. Crews are also dealing with downed powerlines and other hazards from the storm.

As Helene barreled through Georgia, wind gusts over 90 mph were reported with sustained winds at 60 mph. Headed toward the Carolinas, there are flood warnings across the Southeast, including North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and southern Illinois and southern Indiana.











In Western North Carolina, significant flooding and road closures were reported with the Lake Lure Dam in Rutherford County at imminent risk of failure. Those in the area were being advised to evacuate immediately.

The flash flood emergency remains in place until 2 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Rising floodwaters and a mudslide washed out the interstate near the North Carolina-Tennessee state line. The closure occurred around 12:30 p.m. Friday and is expected to reopen by 5 p.m. Saturday, NewsNation local affiliate WJZY reports.

Millions have also been left without power thanks to the storm.

More than 595,000 people in Florida are left without power, along with 860,000 outages reported in Georgia, more than 1.16 million in South Carolina and more than 812,000 in North Carolina.

As the weakened system makes its way north, power outages are following. Virginia is reporting more than 220,000 without power, while Ohio has more than 315,000.
Update September 29

AP reports:
At least 64 dead and millions without power after Helene's deadly march across the Southeast

Massive rains from powerful Hurricane Helene left people stranded, without shelter and awaiting rescue Saturday, as the cleanup began from a tempest that killed at least 64 people, caused widespread destruction across the U.S. Southeast and left millions without power.





"I've never seen so many people homeless as what I have right now," said Janalea England, of Steinhatchee, Florida, a small river town along the state's rural Big Bend, as she turned her commercial fish market into a storm donation site for friends and neighbors, many of whom couldn't get insurance on their homes.

Helene blew ashore in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday with winds of 140 mph (225 kph).

From there, it quickly moved through Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that it "looks like a bomb went off" after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air. Weakened, Helene then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains, sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.
Update September 30

CBS News reports:
The number of storm-related deaths climbed past 100 across the Southeast on Sunday as authorities rushed to airdrop supplies, restore power and clear roads after massive rains from the powerful Helene left people stranded and without shelter.

Helene left at least 116 people dead, CBS News has confirmed, and caused widespread destruction.

Thirty fatalities were reported in Buncombe County, North Carolina — in one of the states hit hardest by the storm.

Helene knocked out power to several million customers. More than two million still had no electricity early Monday, according to utility tracker Find Energy.

But But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday night that 99% of the state's homes and businesses had had power restored.
Update October 1

ITV reports:
At least 133 people have died as Hurricane Helene continues to devastate the United States causing widespread flooding along its south east coastline.

Flood-stricken North Carolina has suffered significant damage, with reports of 30 people having been killed in the mountain city of Asheville.

President Biden has said he will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday.

There are fears the death toll may continue to rise as rescuers and emergency workers continue to explore areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure, and widespread flooding.

During a briefing Monday, White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested that as many as 600 people haven't been accounted for, noting that some of them might be dead.
Update October 2

CNN reports:
Climbing death toll: At least 182 people have died across six states and officials fear the death toll could rise following Hurricane Helene.

Many more remain missing, perhaps unable to leave their location or contact family where communications infrastructure is in shreds.

Power and infrastructure outages: Hundreds of roads remain closed, especially in the Carolinas, hampering the delivery of badly needed supplies. Some areas are so inaccessible supplies are being delivered by mules and by air. More than 1.2 million customers are without power, according to PowerOutage.us, most in the Carolinas, where "major portions of the power grid... were simply wiped away."
Update October 3

AP reports:
Hurricane Helene's death toll reached 200 on Thursday and could rise higher still, as searchers made their way toward the hardest to reach places in the mountains of western North Carolina, where the storm washed out roads and knocked out electricity, water and cellular service.

Officials in Georgia and North Carolina added to their states' grim tallies, padding an overall count that has already made Helene the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
https://www.sott.net/article/495083-Hurricane-Helene-slams-Florida-Georgia-and-other-states-with-flooding-power-outages-at-least-200-dead-600-missing-UPDATES

[Mark]

my add= Why were reporters aloud to stay when every one else was told to get out or die??.

October 11
Florida residents slogged through flooded streets, gathered up scattered debris and assessed damage to their homes after Hurricane Milton smashed through coastal communities and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes.

Here, Connor Hughes of Lithia, Florida, moves in deep floodwaters along the Alafia river.
https://www.9news.com.au/world/hurricane-milton-preperation-damage-in-pictures/675c0f58-e14e-4379-a861-052da05fd720