Storm Helene: At least 93 killed in US; rescuers battle to reach people

Death toll from powerful storm Helene in the US jumped to at least 93, with one county in North Carolina alone reporting 30 deaths as rescuers battled to reach people in need across the southeastern parts of the country.

The storm response took on a political tinge after President Joe Biden and the two candidates vying to replace him, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, announced plans to soon visit hard-hit areas, some of them in key battleground states in the November presidential elections.

High winds and torrential rain pummeled towns and cities across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Homes were destroyed, roads flooded out and power cut off to millions.

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"We're hearing (of) significant infrastructure damage to water systems, communication, roads, critical transportation routes, as well as several homes that have been just destroyed by this," the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, said Sunday.

At least 93 people were killed in the extreme weather -- 37 in North Carolina, 25 in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, two in Tennessee and one in Virginia, according to tallies from local authorities compiled by AFP. That total was expected to rise.

"We have another devastating update. We now have 30 confirmed losses due to the storm," Quentin Miller, the sheriff in North Carolina's Buncombe County, which includes the tourist city of Asheville, told a briefing.

Flood warnings remained in effect in parts of western North Carolina, amid fears of potential dam failures.

Conditions were expected to improve in the affected areas by around Tuesday, National Weather Service director Ken Graham said.