Headline: Hurricane Helene: Natural Disaster of the Year?
Photo:
Caption: An image taken by a Florida resident of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The hurricane left a trail of destruction, flattening some parts of cedar key.
WC: 539
Hurricane Helene: Deadliest Natural Disaster of the Year?
Recently, Hurricane Milton ravaged and destroyed Florida’s West Coast just days ago on October 9th, where emergency evacuations and rescues are happening at this very moment. It became one of the most intense and destructive tropical cyclones ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico that resulted in the failure of many buildings and injuries and casualties. The amount of hurricane damage that the U.S. needs to account for this past month is over one hundred and fifty five billion dollars: yet the path of wreckage left by Hurricane Helene is only estimated to cost up to 50 billion dollars. So, what about the other 105 billion?
A disaster with a death toll dozens of times larger than Milton: Hurricane Helene. Helene was the label for four hurricanes in 1958, 1988, 2006, and 2018. Last month, Hurricane Helene swept through the southeastern states, causing widespread destruction and fatalities across the region, making it potentially the most impactful hurricane of the year. Helene hit the Florida coast as a Category 4 major hurricane, with winds over 140 miles per hour! Helene is the first known Category 4 storm to hit Florida’s Big Bend region since records began in 1851. The storm made landfall to Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and over a dozen different states. Even the renowned North Carolina landmark and tourist attraction, The Biltmore Estate, was slammed by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, killing many animals and damaging the area. Though the actual amount of devastation and damage Hurricane Helene has caused is still unknown, CoreLogic calculates that Hurricane Helene caused between $30.5 billion and $47.5 billion in total wind and flood losses. It’s obvious that there has been significant damage to a widespread amount of houses, farms, wildlife, and most importantly, the people. North Carolina officials are still unable to confirm how many people are missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, though deaths have been reported across 20 counties and at least 215 storm-related facilities have been reported in the state, by far the highest death toll of any of the southeastern states slammed by the storm two weeks ago. For reference, Hurricane Milton holds around 23 confirmed deaths, and another recent Hurricane, Hurricane Beryl, had around 64 casualties.
Hurricane Helene was by far the deadliest inland hurricane on record, far surpassing the previous record Hurricane Agnes’s 128 deaths. It’s important to have trustworthy news when talking about any natural disaster, especially so in this case. Misinformation about Hurricane Helene has been a problem at a governmental/political level, largely spread by former President Donald J. Trump. He falsely claimed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) couldn’t respond appropriately to the hurricane because it diverted so much money to helping migrants (which is completely unrelated). Lies and misinformation spread even includes 2,000 people being trapped in a Candler, North Carolina, church and 1,000 unidentified dead bodies being piled up at a hospital in Asheville. Remember that misinformation leads to confusion and real-life misunderstandings, as well as unreliable information for your assignments or medical treatments. If you want accurate and reliable information for your health, grades, life, or even appearance, check out the Matador Newspaper! We make new, up to date, accurate articles every month!
