Ninety-two people are still missing in North Carolina weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the western part of the state, Governor Roy Cooper said on Tuesday.
As a result of the storm, ninety-five people are known to have died in North Carolina, while more than 220 have been killed in total, including in Florida, where the storm made landfall. The hurricane has destroyed several towns in western North Carolina, where more than six months’ worth of rain landed as the storm rolled through.
FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell previously spoke about the historic flooding in North Carolina from Helene on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” saying, “I don’t know that anybody could be fully prepared for the amount of flooding and landslides that they are experiencing right now.”
In a news conference on Tuesday, Cooper warned that number could change as more reports of missing people are resolved.
“I want to caution that this is not a definitive count, because the task force is continuing its work,” he said.
Cooper also referenced the “persistent and dangerous flow of misinformation” circulating about the hurricane and the relief being provided, which comes as federal workers have been confronted with rising distrust from some local residents as a result of spreading conspiracies relating to Helene and the relief being provided. The false conspiracy theories about land confiscation, aid payments and deliberate weather manipulation have rapidly spread online in conservative political spheres.
Cooper asserted the claims were continuing to complicate relief efforts, and warned such misinformation “breeds confusion and demoralizes storm survivors and response workers alike.”
“If you’re participating in spreading this stuff, stop it,” he added. “Whatever your aim is, the people you are really hurting are those in western North Carolina who need help.”
Last Saturday, police in Rutherford County arrested a man who allegedly spoke publicly about harming relief workers and was found with a rifle and a handgun.
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has said it has had to make changes to its operations in the state, briefly pulling out of one county because of threats fueled by misinformation. Reports from the agency indicate that several extremist groups remain active in the region, attempting to capitalize on the disaster and the rumors.
Rescue efforts were also complicated by the mountainous and rugged terrain of western North Carolina, where homes and bridges were washed away and the popular tourist city of Asheville was cut off. FEMA has since resumed its normal operations in the state after temporarily relocating amid a reported threat.
