Three weeks after Helene unleashed a sea of horrors on Western North Carolina, the state appears to be nearing the end of its count of the lives taken in the storm.
Starting Saturday, Oct.19, the state will reduce its Hurricane Helene Storm Related Fatalities Report to once a day.
Since Monday, Oct. 14, the death count related to the storm has remained at 95. North Carolina’s Division of Public Health reports the majority of the 95 deaths have been attributed to drownings (32) and landslides (20).
Eighteen individuals died from blunt force injuries, six were attributed to wind or tree trauma, four were attributed to motor vehicle drownings, three to motor vehicle crashes, six deaths still have unknown circumstances and five are listed as other. There was also one environmental exposure-related death.
Below is the breakdown of storm-related deaths county by county as of Friday, Oct. 18, 2024:
Ashe, 1 Avery, 4 Buncombe, 42 Burke, 1 Catawba, 1 Cleveland, 2 Gaston, 1 Haywood, 5 Henderson, 7 Macon, 2 4 Madison, 4 McDowell, 1 Mecklenburg, 2 Mitchell, 2 Polk, 1 Rowan, 1 Rutherford, 3 Wake, 1 Watauga, 2 Yadkin, 1 Yancey, 11