The death toll from Hurricane Helene rises to 64 in the Southeast

The death toll from Hurricane Helene rose to 64 people on Saturday evening as the powerful storm caused widespread destruction across the southeast.

Among the dead are three firefighters, a mother and her one-month-old twins, and an 89-year-old woman who was hit by a tree that hit her home.

Eleven of the confirmed deaths were from Florida, including nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory Gulf Coast evacuation zone in Pinellas County, officials said.

The total death toll is only expected to rise as recovery efforts continue – rescuers stepped up the search on Saturday after the monstrous storm was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.

Dozens of other communities reported deaths but did not provide details, citing destroyed cell phone towers that prevented contact with next of kin.

Thousands more survivors are stranded and homeless. Millions of others are without power.

“It looks like a bomb exploded,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air.

Hundreds of water rescues have been carried out in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia – including the dramatic helicopter rescue of 18 patients and staff from a hospital roof.

Western North Carolina was isolated due to landslides and the worst flooding in a century, which forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. Gov. Roy Cooper described it as “catastrophic” as search and rescue teams from 19 states and the federal government arrived to help.

Helene is the deadliest tropical cyclone to hit South Carolina since Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which killed 35 people.

The megastorm also broke records in Atlanta, Georgia, where 11.12 inches were measured in 48 hours, the highest storm intensity the city has experienced in a two-day period since records began in 1878.

Helene's total losses will be between $95 billion and $110 billion, according to an AccuWeather estimate, taking into account damage to homes, businesses, roads, vehicles, as well as the impact of power outages, lost wages, flight delays, supply chain impacts and more.

Airlines rebounded Friday after massive delays and widespread cancellations. According to the tracking service FlightAware, there were 1,300 flight delays and 135 cancellations in the USA as of Saturday afternoon.

The damage from Helene could make it one of the most devastating storms in the United States

Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Friday, is expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley through Sunday, increasing the chance of severe flooding.

Remnants of the storm fell on the New York City region as light rain on Saturday and were expected to continue into the start of the work week.

With post wires